Under the Stone Sky
by atheistbasementdragon
Summary: Taking place beginning in Chapter 85 of God Rising, this story takes Ainz through the Dark Dwarven 'Understone Empire' a troubled place ruled by an incompetent queen. What will he do to an empire that stands in the path of Gargantua, and a strategy for total victory over the Slane Theocracy and their allies?
1. The People Under the Mountain

**AN: Well...enjoy. That is all. :) **

_...Nazarick, Ainz' office..._

"Whoever looks for victory after starting the fight, has already lost." Ainz could not remember who had said that… or was it something else? His memory of it was vague, but whatever the precise statement, the spirit of it remained with him. He had to prepare for his visit to the Dark Dwarves of the mountain range between the north and south, and that meant information gathering was the key. The eight edge assassins had been very, very thorough, making judicious use of the few scrolls they'd taken with them to interrogate and memory wipe those from whom they could gain the most knowledge with the least risk of exposure, gathering maps of entire cities and observing whatever they could, and now it was time for him to make use of all that and gird himself with knowledge.

Of all the benefits of being an undead, the greatest one of all was the lack of a need for rest, and so he stayed staring at the documents on his desk hour after hour in his private office. Not far away, Tuare stood by, patient and silent. She was rarely on the rotation since her marriage to Sebas, but she had refused the offer to allow her to quit working and simply remain in Nazarick as his wife.

"I will not be useless to you, or to Nazarick, My Lord. Please permit this human to continue to serve." She'd said that in the throne room shortly after the wedding, and it was said with a force and conviction that he did not know she had within her. It was also the first thing she'd said that had earned her a modicum of respect or camaraderie from her fellow maids or the other denizens of Nazarick other than Sebas himself.

Her 'marital termination' had been intended to be a gift. As it turned out, after that, the other homunculi maids had invited her to start eating with them, so perhaps 'acceptance' had been his gift, and a better one at that. Demiurge could always be counted upon to conclude this had been the plan all along, an assertion Sebas had embraced, and of course, it was 'as expected of Lord Ainz' all over again.

So here she was, waiting for her chance to be useful, far more relaxed than she had been years go, but still a mite stiff. A thought occurred to him and he set down the document.

"Tuare?" He said.

"Yes, My Lord?" She said, turning on her heel to face him.

"Would you like to accompany me on a… business trip?" He asked.

"My Lord?" She asked with uncertainty. "If it is your will, I shall go where you command."

Ainz wanted to plant his face into his desk. Tuare was starting to sound like the NPCs now.

"Tuare, I am asking if you would 'like' to. You have seldom left Nazarick, and this should be a fairly straightforward diplomatic mission with very little risk. If you refuse, I will tell no one that it was offered to you. However, this should prove an easy assignment and a break from your normal routine of work. Now, the truth; do you want to personally attend to me on my visit?" He said, looking up at her as she stood there, frozen.

After a moment she stammered out, "M-My Lord, it would be a great honor to go with you. May this humble servant make one small suggestion however?"

Ainz's heart sang, this was the kind of feedback he longed for. "Please do." He said politely.

"Majesty, might I suggest bringing another of the maids as well, two servants will perform better than one in both ability and how Your Majesty's power is displayed, and I don't want to make them jealous of me either." She said in a nervous, mousy voice that trembled just a little.

Ainz thought for a moment and stroked his chin. Tuare stared, whenever he did that, he seemed so very normal, that and other little gestures, a thousand tiny ones, all made him seem human. Like he only appeared to be an undead, it endeared him a great deal to her, to think he would learn how to perform like a human to put his subjects and servants at ease around him. It also spoke to her of his monumental intellect, to think of such a stratagem. She wouldn't have ever guessed it, had Demiurge not pointed out that it was the only explanation in one of their few conversations.

"Yes, I think that is a very fine suggestion Tuare, thank you." He said kindly, she blushed and lowered her head.

"I but do my duty in serving you, My Lord." She said in the gentle voice she always had.

"Then while I read, go and inform your husband that I will be stealing you and Yuri Alpha away for a short time, he will inform Yuri, and you may pack what you'll need for the duration. Plan for this to last no more than a week or two," he said patiently. "And one more thing, inform Demiurge that I would like to see him."

"It will be done, My Lord, but when should I say we're leaving?" She asked deferentially.

Ainz thought for a moment. "Two days, that should be plenty of time, and give you a little free time with your husband. After you're packed, you both have two days to enjoy one another's company."

She bowed very deeply, there were tears of gratitude in her eyes. "My lord… I'm so blessed to serve you, you're the kindest lord any servant could ever ask for. When I was… back there, when Your Majesty's servant saved me, all I wanted was to die, to just finally be thrown into whatever ditch they'd pick out for me and just let my body rot away and everything end… you've shown me such kindness though… now, now when I think of death, I only hope that it is here, in your service, with my husband, many years from now." Her eyes glistened as the tears hung there. His gift was such a little thing, just some extra time with her husband before going away with her master.

He was almost unsure of what to say, before he managed to get out, "It is as it should be, and as it is here, the world will be."

She nodded, "I will pray every day, Your Majesty, that the world falls into your hands." Her voice wavered, but not through lack of devotion, rather through an abundance of emotion.

"Go, enjoy your time together." He said.

She bowed deeply three times, as if once was not enough, and then moved out of the room with the swift urgency her task demanded of her.

_…Sixth Floor of Nazarick…_

Aura and Mare were frankly bored. The pair were having tea while being attended by the three elf females that had been permitted to live within Nazarick after the worker incident. The trio were simple and skittish at first but had become more and more comfortable over the last few years, and had come to dote on their master and mistress almost to the point of annoyance… or beyond it on occasion. More than once the pair asked if the trio would like to go free, and every time the trio had refused in one voice.

When Aura had brought it up with Lord Ainz, he had suggested that they were so traumatized by what had happened in the outside world, that they felt unsafe anywhere else but where they were now. So, there they still were on this occasion, pouring tea and serving small snacks to the young guardians.

It wasn't that they didn't enjoy tea, or snacks, but it was a little too much of a good thing. Since Mare had finished working on the recovery houses and the grounds, there was simply no major project pending, and it was getting worrisome to be without a way to serve the last supreme one.

So, when a maid approached and informed them of Lord Ainz's wishes, they were ecstatic. Huge grins broke out over both their faces, and the elf trio rushed to the great tree to help them pack.

"A chance to serve Lord Ainz? It's about time!" Aura said proudly.

"S-sister, you shouldn't say things like that, L-lord Ainz might think you were unhappy!" He said hesitantly.

Aura frowned, "I didn't mean it like that! Now hurry up, we've got to go pack!" She said and grabbed her brother by his ear and began to march back to the tree, pulling him along behind her while the elf trio rushed ahead to assume their duties in preparing the twins for their imminent departure.

_…Rune Craft Research Academy Administration Office…_

Gondo was putting the finishing touches on a report when the gate opened. He knew the gate very well by now, but he was always overjoyed to see it. Only one figure in the world had access to that kind of magic, so either he or one of his representatives would be coming through, and sure enough, it was a rarely seen but familiar maid.

"Yuri Alpha, what brings you to me today?" He asked enthusiastically, as he set aside his quill and his documents.

She gave him a polite curtsy and a soft smile and answered, "Hello Gondo, I've come because Lord Ainz has a request for you and you alone."

His eyes went wide, "His will is my command." He answered, "Please, tell me what I can help with." He replied fervently, almost fanatically.

"He is planning a visit to the Dark Dwarves of the mountain range south of the Re-Estize Kingdom and he wants you to come along as a representative to show that dwarves are respected and well treated as subjects of Nazarick." She said proudly.

"Of course, I'd be happy to attest to all of that, but surely any dwarf would do, why me?" He asked, his voice clearly showing he was deeply honored.

"Because you have another purpose, to analyze and observe their techniques and technology in the hopes that you might learn something of value that you can bring back to your research teams." She answered.

He stroked his long beard thoughtfully, "Yes… yes, I can see how I'd be helpful. Of course, for His Majesty, I'd do it even if I were blind as a Quagoa in the noonday sun." He half muttered in reply.

"How soon can you be ready?" She asked.

"Ten minutes, enough to tell someone else I'm leaving and to grab my emergency majesty bag." He replied.

"Your… what?" She asked.

He let a clever smile slip. "His Majesty has a habit of coming by unexpectedly, so… I prepared an emergency majesty bag. It has several changes of clothes, a few days' worth of rations and ordinary magic items that make everyday life easier, a small coin purse with enough money for a few days stay at an inn, a few light weapons, that kind of thing. I can't very well be abreast of things back in Nazarick from here, but I can make sure I am always ready when His Majesty calls." He finished his statement with considerable pride.

"Very clever. I will have to suggest others adopt the practice." She replied.

"Thank you." He inclined his head, "I just thought it was a good idea." He said confidently.

_…Inside of Rockfall… Eastern town under the mountain…_

Iontariil looked around, his ugly mug didn't exactly stand out, but anyone looking at that face would know exactly what he was. An orc. An orc slave. Any orc who lived in Rockfall was a slave. The same for any goblin, any troll, any human, and whatever else that was neither Dark Dwarf nor Dark Elf that ended up under the same stone sky as Queen Shubri. His clothes were a ragged mockery of what they were intended to be, and though his chains were heavy by any normal standard, to him they were light as air. He was a mass of muscle with light green scars over dark green skin. Barely an inch of flesh was left of what the gods had given him at his birth, so covered was he with marks of the lash. If only he had been stupid as well, he might have been a very good slave. But now he was a very dangerous figure.

He kept to the wall and crept ever closer to his goal, Rockfall's guard house, where the guards were currently drinking. He grinned, he hoped it was good, it was the last they'd ever have. He tossed a rock high over their heads, it landed a good way off, and they turned to look. The conical helmets they wore were very good at protecting against overhead blows, however the metal flaps that hung down to protect the sides of the face were much thinner, and that gave him his chance. He threw two more rocks, these straight on, smashing both dark dwarf guards in the weakest spot and sending them tumbling to the ground. He rushed in, his legs and arms pumping as he sprinted forward, a third rock already in hand, he was on the first one, then the other, frantically smashing the stunned guards in a flurry of blows until their bodies stopped twitching. Blood was splattered everywhere, including all over him, but it didn't matter.

He wanted everyone to know what had been done and that it was him who had done it.

He took the short axes and swords, as well as one of the belts. He secured the belt to his waist… barely, then stored the weapons against his body. He then reached down and took the key from one of the dead fools and walked up the short set of steps to the heavy iron wrought door that they had been guarding. With a little 'click' of a lock being opened, the slave rebellion had begun.

He snatched up weapons, short swords, axes, spears, whatever weapons he could carry, and he could carry many of them, and he rushed back out the way he'd come. It didn't take him long to get where he wanted. The black sky of stone, that which every slave hated, gave him shadow to hide himself within. Even with continual light spells and glow stones, there were ample places one could hide if one was careful. For all the centuries of endless mining under the mountain, there were always more outcroppings to be hewn down, or exposed by yet more mining.

The slaves were working hard as usual, their mining gloves tearing into the rock and wrenching it away from its resting place as part of the large range, then throwing it into wheelbarrows moved by yet more slaves to be sorted as lumps of ore. They focused on their work; failure to meet quota would result in food being denied them. Even the ogres, dumb brutes that they were, understood that much. So, they worked. A sheen of sweat and its acrid stink clung to everybody, while on a nearby platform, a dark dwarf overseer, whip in hand, stood watch. He was alone, for guards were little needed in Rockfall, or anywhere else like it. There was no way out and every slave in every place knew it.

Iontariil saw the overseer before the overseer saw him. He set aside his weapons and then stood in the wide path behind the mining slaves, wheelbarrows going up and down on either side could not get past when he opened his arms wide and barred the way. Soon they were jammed up and stalled. Those nearest to him were complaining loudly that he was slowing them down.

"Hey! We're going to miss quota because of you, ah ain't eaten in two damn days an if'n ah miss a third, ahll be eatin you!" An angry goblin snapped from behind him, before falling silent when he saw the weapons in the massive orc's belt.

The sudden halt in traffic got the overseer's attention, he followed the line of wheelbarrows and hand carts to the problem. "You there! Slave! What are you doing?!" He shouted and began to take out his whip. Iontariil simply stared straight ahead in silence.

"Fucking slave! If I have to come down there…" The overseer began, but Iontariil simply held his position while the other slaves tried to push past. The one behind and the one in front were managing just that, squeezing by him and each other. When his hands dropped down, grabbed the sides of their wheelbarrows, and shoved them away from his body, toppling the contents all over the ground, cursing began from the slaves nearby who could see what was happening.

"We're going to go hungry…" One said.

"Forget food, we're all going to be lashed because of this idiot." Another added.

"What the hell is he thinking?" Another asked of the one behind him.

The overseer had, by then, had enough. He came down from where he stood, quickly descending the ladder and approached Iontariil. As he came closer, he got a better look at the massive orc. "Wait, you're not one of…" and then Iontariil yanked a short ax from his belt and threw it in one smooth motion. It turned over and over in the air and the blade lodged deep enough in the overseer's face that it lodged halfway into his brain. The dwarf only had a second or two to look past the ax blade in disbelief, his eyes seeing the opposing sides of the weapon, then rolling back into his head, and he fell backwards with a heavy thud.

First, the sound of breaking rock and grunting echoed off the walls, then there was the echo of a single thud. Now… there was nothing. Not a sound. Iontariil broke that silence.

"Slaves! What is the penalty for striking an overseer?" He asked loudly.

"Death." A hushed whisper answered.

"And what is the penalty for rebellion?" He shouted a question again.

"Death for every slave in the same chain." The hushed whisper continuously echoed about the walls so that none could fail to hear it.

"And what is the penalty for killing an overseer?" He shouted his last question.

"Death for every slave in the same chain." The voice replied once more.

Iontariil folded his arms and looked around. Save for the ogres, he towered over most of them with ease.

"Well I've got news for you boys and girls, he's dead, I'm rebelling, where exactly do you think that leaves you in alla this, eh? Course, you wanna turn yerself in an hope fer dark dwarf kindness… well please get going, don't let me be get'n in your way." He said and waited patiently.

There were no takers.

_…Inside of Seoth'Kardia…Dark Dwarf capital city..._

Shubri had beer in her hand while she sat on her throne. She usually did. She wasn't quite drunk, but she was getting there.

Indinos was less than happy about that, he walked on his prosthetic leg with ease, having long since gotten used to it and the magic spells that made it work, and he knelt at the throne. "Your majesty, I have news out of Rockfall."

"Rockfall? Where the hell is that?" She asked.

"Far away from here." He answered in his rough, gravel like voice.

"Then I'm far away from caring about it." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Your majesty!" he said, looking at her with shock. The shock wasn't genuine, but it was the closest one could get to criticizing her.

She sighed, "Fine, tell me."

"A rebellion has begun among the slaves there." He said bluntly. "We need to send soldiers and send them fast."

"So why are you talking to me then, do it already, put them down, and crucify their leaders." She replied in a voice that said quite plainly, 'you're boring me'.

"Majesty, that was the first thing the regional governor did, but the rebel leader ambushed the punitive force and… burned them all alive." He said in a hushed, horrified voice.

Her face turned red with rage. "Punish the governor for losing, do not leave him alive to learn from it, have him replaced and have the other two regional governors nearby his position send their soldiers in to restore order, crucify every slave." She said vindictively.

"It will be done, your majesty." Indinos said and stood up, he turned around and walked away, there was a lot of work to do.


	2. Rebel Rising

_...The Rhan-Tegoth Mountain..._

Tuare looked in awe at the view before her. "Are those… stairways for the gods?" She asked in awe as she looked at the enormous step like shapes carved up and down the length of the mountain in front of them.

"No." Ainz said with a shake of his head and a small utterance of laughter, "Those are not stairways at all, they are terraces, mountains have little farmland, so to 'create' farmland, they carve level terraces into the side, cover them with dirt, and grow crops there. An individual terrace does not provide abundant land, however with enough of them, you can make up for the shortage of crops that would otherwise be experienced. Not a perfect solution, but good enough. When we get closer, you'll see stairs meant for ordinary people alongside the terraces." He said and tapped his fingers against his side.

"Oh… that was stupid. Please forgive this servant for her unacceptable speech." Tuare said and bowed her head.

"It's fine, it is fairly impressive after all. And… there are a lot of them, they've been in these mountains for a very long time." Ainz said in response.

They started to walk forward and Ainz took another look around, the stonework was exquisite. As they came closer to the mountain, the stairs came into view and they could see people working on the terraces and going up and down the stairs beside them.

"My Lord," Yuri Alpha said, "May this one ask a foolish question?"

"Ask." Ainz replied.

"Why did we appear this distance away? Could we not have appeared in the throne room of the ruler of this place if we wished?" She asked.

"Well, yes, but I have never seen this before, and I wanted to see it for myself, to gain a proper appreciation for the people I was going to visit, call it… the literal version of the long view, if you like." Ainz answered.

"As you say, my Lord." She replied formally.

The air bore the cool wind of autumn, and Ainz regretted that he could not properly enjoy it. To have an undead body had been of great benefit… but what he wouldn't give to feel the things he'd read about before the world he grew up in had been utterly trashed.

The rest of the party seemed to be enjoying it, particularly Tuare, who was smiling happily as they approached the looming stone empire.

Before long they'd reached the outer entry. This entrance, unlike the dwarves to the north, had an entire town in front of it, or perhaps, Ainz reflected, calling it a 'residential fort' was more accurate. There were walls twelve feet high and made of good stonework. The dark dwarves looked much like Gondo save for their dark tanned skin and their beards, which were of a uniform black color. The walls had dwarves armed with bows spaced every ten to twenty feet, and at the ground level entrance, there were small guard posts with upright shielding for them to stand behind.

"Security conscious." Ainz muttered thoughtfully.

His appearance, as they came closer, resulted in the loud ringing of a bell that echoed all the way to himself and his entourage. "Wait." Ainz said thoughtfully, "Let them come to us."

They stopped.

"Sit down and appear to be non-threatening." He said, and one by one his escorts sat cross legged on the grass beside the dirt 'road' that led to the town.

Ainz remained standing, but he didn't move. Instead he waited while distant orders were shouted, and activity buzzed like an anthill being knocked over.

He didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later, a small number of heavily armed dwarves rode up on… not horses… but wolves. "They're riding direwolves." He thought to himself.

They were readying their weapons as they approached, but when they realized that the living stood with the undead, they hesitated, and closed the distance without drawing their weapons out. "You, who are you and what are you doing here?" Their evident commander said in a low, fierce voice.

"I am the Sorcerer King, ruler of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and I come to you in the spirit of peace. With me are my attendants, Gondo Firebeard, a dwarf of one of my vassal states, and also my maid attendants, Yuri Alpha, and Tuareninya." He said, gesturing to each one of them in turn.

This threw them for a loop, and they spread out with practiced ease, regardless of their uncertainty.

"Why are you here?" The same dwarf asked from the center position of the crescent formation. The direwolves were obedient but… it was obvious that they were eager to back away from the undead.

Ainz fixed his gaze squarely on the dwarf at the center. He was large compared to his fellows, but still child sized to the large skeletal king, and whatever bravery he'd shown that had earned him a command, it withered under the icy gaze of the Sorcerer King.

"Is this how the Dark Dwarf kingdom greets royal visitors from abroad? I will answer that to your queen, not to you." He said sharply and a small fraction of his aura slipped free. The direwolves' heads bowed low and canine whimpers filled the air as the beasts tucked their tails between their legs.

The dwarf commander swallowed, he was visibly shaking, as were his companions. "Of-of course, you are right, ah… sire. Forgive me, it is just that we received no notice…" He trailed off at the continued stare of the Sorcerer King.

"I require no excuses, soldier. I require escort, bring us into your town and send word to your government that we have arrived to speak with them about certain considerable changes that will be taking place in the year ahead." Ainz said cryptically.

The royal command voice, which had always awed his maids from the newest Tuare to the more experienced Yuri Alpha and to the foreign Gondo Firebeard, struck the terror of kingly wrath into the dwarf unit sent out to assess a possible threat.

"Ah, of course, of course." He said, "Escort formation!" He shouted nervously, and the direwolves formed up on either side of them, with the commander at the center in the front. Gondo watched all this with a curious eye. Though he'd heard of his 'cousins' far away, he'd never been here and the little he'd heard had been largely rumor.

Now here he was. Their affection for the stone seemed favorable to him, as they drew close to the gate and the headman in charge made his announcement of a royal visit as loudly as he could. This prompted profound stares at the little group as they moved forward through the gate and into the town that jutted out from the base of the mountain.

"What do you think?" Ainz asked Gondo thoughtfully.

"Professionally, Your Majesty?" He asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"Marvelous work. The stonework is firm and secure, their weapons are good, their discipline second only to Nazarick." He said, slowly stroking his beard as he walked.

"But?" Ainz asked, sensing the caveat.

"There is a miasma of evil and fear that hangs over this place." He said grimly. "I talked to one of the survivors of a campaign against the Quagoa a long time ago. He survived by hiding away, and when he crept out of his hiding place he found his comrades bodies mutilated and tossed around, blood cast off everywhere, piles of heads, and horrible as it was, the thing he described most was the aura of hatred, evil, and fear that surrounded the place. He went back there with his companions, you know, after everything was settled and we were able to start returning to the old cities. They felt the same chill, like terrible things had been done there. That is what I feel now, what I felt when I walked through that gate." His voice was soft, too low to be heard by their escort, but there was no need for him to reply, the Sorcerer King understood his meaning.

"My Lord?" The dwarf riding at the head said from over his shoulder.

"Yes?" Ainz said coldly.

"Forgive a delay, but as I said, we had no knowledge of your coming. Normally we provide proper diplomatic access immediately, but we have not had that chance. To welcome you properly, we would have a banquet, a welcoming ceremony. Could I ask for your patience while I send word of your arrival and we prepare something for you?" He asked.

"I have little use for a banquet." He said dryly. The soldier stammered dumbly for a moment and Ainz let out a sigh. "How long a delay?" He asked.

"A day…?" He suggested tentatively.

"That would be in my interest, but not in your own." Ainz said cryptically.

"Ah, I see. Well perhaps an hour or two, long enough to send word at least of your coming and gather an honor guard?" He suggested.

"Acceptable." Ainz said, "I did not inform you of our coming, so that much compromise I can at least offer."

"Thank you, my Lord." He said, and he called one of the riders over to him, whispered his instructions, and the dwarven rider charged full tilt into the great mountain gate.

"What are they doing over there?" Ainz asked curiously, pointing to a large terrace along the mountainside.

"Sky burial." One of the dark dwarves said.

"Explain." Ainz commanded.

"Ah, yes, well, when one of our number perishes, they're carried by friends or family to one of the great terraces and placed on the earth there. Then the eagles, hawks, and dragonlings come to consume their bodies. Their bones are carried away and used to make nests for the birds and dragonlings elsewhere, while their flesh nourishes both forms of beast and their offspring, what is more, the droppings of both beasts enrich the soil, and when the body is gone, we can grow twice as many crops for twice as long. Also, it keeps the birds and dragonlings we hunt, plentiful in number." He said proudly.

"Oh, what are they used for?" Ainz asked curiously.

"The birds' feathers are used in fletching arrows and in decoration, the meat isn't very good though, so we feed that to the slaves. It's nutritious but tastes awful. Nonetheless, it keeps the slaves able to work harder. The dragonlings' wings we use in clothing and tools, they're better than regular leather, their claws and teeth are harder than steel, so we make everything from arrow points to nails out of them. Their meat is very good, or it is supposed to be, so it is reserved for the wealthy and the nobles. In this way, the sky burial is how our dead provide a final service to the lives of the mountain god's children." He said proudly.

Ainz clamped down on his emotions immediately, and he kept his voice carefully neutral when the mention of slaves came up. "I see, that is… fascinating."

_…Springfalls…_

The Dark Dwarven city of Springfalls was like none other in their empire, an enormous underground spring shot up through the stone, where it flowed over a massive cliff, creating an enormous waterfall that in turn flowed to one of the underground rivers that provided water for crops both inside and outside the mountain.

Iontariil's rebellion was going very well. Two more groups of dark dwarves had been captured, killed, and their heads sent back the way they'd come. Now it was time to spread the rebellion further, and that was why he'd come to Springfalls. The fighting hadn't yet spread here, but there were a lot of slaves.

Behind him, he had a band of a thousand people; two hundred goblins, fifty ogres, seven hundred and ninety-nine orcs… and oddly enough, one most unfortunate… or fortunate if you look at it that way, human. They'd taken the quiet paths for this, all the little unsurveyed places, the crags and narrow passages, the many roads under the stone sky that were little used and passed through mining villages that had their veins of ore run dry had given plenty of shelter for his little force, and now it was time to put it to use.

Iontariil did not waste time. As soon as he saw dark dwarves in armor, he ordered the attack. "Take them! Take them alive!" He shouted and held out one of his short swords in the direction of the small group of soldiers. His rebels did as they were commanded, rushing down on the group from ambush and taking them by surprise. There was little chance of victory for the dwarves.

They tried to fight, but could kill only two, and in a flurry of blows, all fourteen dark dwarves were rendered unconscious, and two were dead. Iontariil had the group bound and gagged and went the remaining two miles to the entry to the city and ordered his men to attack it as well. Springfalls might have been unique, but it wasn't large, it housed perhaps ten thousand dark dwarves and twice that many slaves. Its total military presence was not more than three thousand, and even that was scattered around the city. The sudden attack of rebel slaves screaming for blood and charging the gate could not be stopped. A handful of dark dwarves had the sense to try to close the entryway to buy time, but before they could, an ogre smashed through and they were flung aside, the gate slammed hard against the stone wall and cracked at both ends. The dwarf guards there were made quick work of, smashed to jelly by ogre clubs or cut to pieces by swords.

With a thousand slaves, they charged through the little city, killing everyone in the way. The military response was… not swift, nor well-coordinated, and Iontariil's earth shattering war cries, turned out to be pretty good at shattering hearts too. They smashed their way from one position to the next as the dark dwarves tried to gather for a stand, only for them to time and again be eroded by accidentally feeding their superior force to the insurgency in manageable bites, until they went from three to one superiority, to two to one, to an even fight, to being badly outnumbered.

In a matter of a few hours, there was no dark dwarf alive and wearing armor at the same time. Many of the civilian population had fled, being covered by those magic users who had chosen not to make a last stand, but to fight another day. A few scouts set out to harry them but came back fewer in number than they'd left in the first place with nothing to show for it, so that action had been called off.

As for that part of the population that had not fled, Iontariil had them gathered together, dark dwarf and the various slaves, and he rose to the top of a public speaking platform and looked out over the sea of slaves and former masters.

"I am Iontariil, former slave. Now I'll ask you what I asked the ones who now follow me, and I'll present to you the same choice after. What is the penalty for rebellion?" He put to the crowd, his arms were folded in front of him and he was rhythmically tapping the flat of the blade on his thick green bicep.

"Death!" He answered his own question.

"That is the sentence you are all under, right now, the Dark Dwarf royal family decrees death for rebellion, death for being where a rebellion is going on, death for striking an overseer. No matter what you do from this point forward, you are ALL under a death sentence, every slave here!" He shouted.

There were a few protests, but they were muted, largely because nobody expected the dwarves to give a damn about the difference between the guilty and the not guilty.

"So, there is one way to solve that problem, one way to clear off the death sentences that have fallen on all the slaves under this mountain." He continued, and they listened with a hushed voice.

They did not have to wait long. "Strike off your collars! Strike off your chains! Take up the sword and be slaves no more!" He shouted with fury, "Kill everyone who bears a whip, and the whip will strike no more!"

"Will you follow me?!" He shouted the question, and the thunderous cheers answered his question more than adequately enough.

He called out for the dwarves to be brought up to where he stood. The captives totaled two thousand. Half of them, one thousand, he blinded, cutting out both eyes, then brutally kicked each screaming blind dwarf off the platform to claw madly around at the stone.

The next one thousand, he cut out one eye each, before kicking each of them off the platform. "Those with one eye, you may escort one of your blind companions back to the nearest city, but be quick, or we'll be coming behind you to finish you off!" He snarled out.

The brutal treatment was shocking, horrifying… and made a profound impression on the slave population. "When you go back to the now temporary safety of another city, tell them that Iorantiil is coming, bringing with him the wrath of an angry god down upon all your heads. Scream to the stone sky if you like, but it will not save you from me. Release all slaves or die under our revenge!"

"As to the rest of you, start getting collars off, start removing chains, go make better clothing for yourselves, and find weapons wherever you can, because there are many more slaves to free and dark dwarves to kill, and while you're at it, eat your fill, drink your fill, go and plunder this town of everything you want! We move on tomorrow!" He shouted, and cheers went out as the slaves ran back and forth, many of them rushing to plunder the home of a former master of anything of value, before even removing the collars, fearing that their chance at plundering familiarly placed food and wine would be stolen by a stranger if they did not do it first.

Those slaves skilled at forge work quickly set about turning chains into swords and scraps of armor, and the little city was abuzz with activity once again, with sword after sword being handed over, traded out in exchange for chains.

**AN: Thoughts? Like? Don't like? Review and let me know. :) **


	3. Bloodshed

_…E-Rantel…_

Dale wasn't a big man, nor was he a small one. He wasn't a highly intelligent man, but nor was he a stupid one. He wasn't ambitious, but nor was he slothful, truth be told one would say that his only remarkable feature was that he had not one single remarkable feature. He was the sort of kid who just somehow 'made it' through life, from birth, to eventual death, and if you were to tell him that, he'd be OK with it. That was precisely why he didn't mind working the front gate, visitors to the city were generally very cooperative, and for the ones who got unruly, well he could call for the Death Knight and ask them to explain their lack of cooperation to it. All in all, if you were an honest man, showed up on time, kept a professional air about you, well everything would work out fine. The pay was good and you'd have an easy, comfortable life.

But then…well occasionally there were oddities, such as when he got a message telling him not to mind the mountain that would be walking past, and to warn the prisoners of war not to pay any mind to it, they would be unharmed. He had absolutely no idea what that meant, but at this point after several years of the Sorcerer King's rule, he knew better than to question the sanity of what he was told.

So off he went on an undead horse, over to the prison camps that had been established east of the city. Guards doing duty there got double the pay, but also had higher standards for physical combat power, longer hours, and often had to stay there for several days between visits back home to the city. He didn't envy them. But they did their jobs and he did his and that is all there was to it.

The prisoners here were mostly Re-Estize Kingdom people who hadn't immediately switched sides or who were suspected to have engaged in criminal activity while under Philip's authority. More recently, Slane Theocracy soldiers had been added to the mix, and even a few Holy Kingdom suspected war criminals. The improvised prison was made up of large walls of solid stone, a number of towers, and a few established areas for eating and sleeping. Some prisoners could earn a labor parole and do jobs for the population of Re-Estize in exchange for credit in the camp that could be traded for day passes into the city, or in return for coin to spend. The guards were made up of both the living and the undead, both in the form of death knights and in the form of swift and dangerous undead wolves. The prisoners themselves actually did the most to keep order, because work releases could be yanked if a disturbance broke out, and the best behaved were promised that they'd be released when the war ended.

That was the kind of facility Dale found himself in front of, and he was met by both a guard captain and a prisoner representative.

"Hi.." He said, scratching uncomfortably at the back of his neck, "This is going to sound strange, but I was told to say this to you exactly, and to make sure you understood that all the prisoners should know this as well."

"Well, spit it out man, what is it?" The elf guard captain said with mild annoyance at having his daily routine interrupted.

"Yeah… the message said to tell you all to 'not mind the mountain walking past, it is no threat to you, and it is not going to harm anyone in Re-Estize.' Does…that mean anything to either of you?" He asked, slightly blushing as he gave the incomprehensible message.

The pair shared a look, the prisoner representative, a man of the Slane Theocracy, looked over at the head of the facility, and they each traded a confused look, it meant nothing to them, they shook their heads in unison.

"No, nothing, bit cryptic." The captain said, "But hey, don't worry about it, these things have a way of clearing themselves up." He replied.

"Alright, well just following orders, have a nice day." Dale said and returned to E-Rantel.

The captain and the prisoner representative did not often speak, but when they did it was with a cool politeness, over the course of their time together, a kind of trust had grown up that one would speak the truth to the other, enemy or no, and make the best of their mutually unpleasant circumstances, the captain dealt fairly with the prisoners, including those of the Theocracy, and the prisoner representative kept his own people from pointless riots and instructed newly captive prisoners in what was expected of them. The oddity of the good working relationship was not unrecognized by either, but the latest message caused the prisoner to question that relationship.

"You really don't know?" He asked fervently, almost accusingly.

"Look, I brought you with me, didn't I? If it was supposed to be some kind of secret communication I could have left at any time, I said I don't know, and I mean it, I really don't know." The captain replied honestly.

They parted ways, and the message was disseminated to everyone accordingly, and nobody could make hide nor hair of it…until the thunder started in the ground.

They heard Gargantua before they saw it, and when they saw it, they did not believe their eyes. There was a mountain sized golem…walking. Lumbering in their direction. As it happened, the same prisoner was with the captain at the time informing him of the complete dissemination of the weird message. Neither could take their eyes off the enormous swaying arms or the massive body, slow as it moved, it was eating up ground.

The faces of the two looked almost identical, with jaws dropped, eyes wide and unblinking, as the monster came close and they craned their necks upwards to watch it, unable to look away, the prisoner remarked, "By the gods… we never had a chance…"

The captain, to his credit was able to respond, "Do you know of anyone who does…?" as the mountain kept walking.

_…Seoth'Kardia…_

"Slaves do not give ultimatums to Queens!" Shubri shouted in outrage, let them go?! I'll let them go! Straight to god's guts! If they won't mine stone, then they can feed our magic from below! Why is this 'Iontariil' not already dead?!" She said as she flung her cup into the stone wall, shattering it into pieces. Several guards let out gasps at the blasphemy, one did not treat the stone with contempt, it was the very body of their god.

Treiaal said nothing, he gestured to the spill and looked at one of the guards, with a grateful nod of silent acknowledgment, he went to clean the stone. "Your highness, it isn't just this one, it has been a cascade effect, slave rebellions are growing, we've managed to put some down with ease, some down with difficulty, and some have been successful enough to join the rebels, they're capturing our forges and turning their chains into swords and armor, there are simply to many in defensive positions and they're holding some populations of our people captive has hostages. We can't retake those areas without getting our citizens killed." He said calmly, he stroked his thick black beard as he knelt in front of her.

"What of our magic? Between our mana crystals and our gifts of death that we feed to god, surely we can overcome them with ease on our own ground?!" She snapped out sharply.

"Yes your highness, the problem is that our forces have been spread very thin, what we have can hold back the advance of the rebels in some places, but any time we pull a crystal eater from one place, we lose the strength they lent that position, we're borrowing from Gama to pay Yama, and whenever we do that, the slaves left behind in those places get restless, sensing the weakness. The feasts of death to below do help our mages, however as it turns out, a few of the slaves were magic users as well, and as a result they're able to draw on the same mana source we are. So crystal eaters and our magicine soldiers are our only really large advantage in that arena." He answered patiently.

"OK, so kill all the slaves in two of our cities, throw their bodies down into the pit to feed god's hunger, then move the soldiers, overseers, crystal eaters, magicine bearers, and so on, out of those areas, that will give us enough of a force to overwhelm these rebels and restore order." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Then who will do all the work?" Treiaal asked cautiously.

"Stupid question." Queen Shubri replied, "The people who still live there, they'll have to do the work, and after we've put down this rebellion, we'll reshuffle whatever slaves survive, then contact the dark elves and trade for more slaves, we might pay a higher price for a while, but those plains dwellers will probably cut us a deal, they need our ores and metal working after all." She said pragmatically.

"I doubt it." Treiaal said, putting sadness in his voice to show that he wasn't being defiant or pointlessly contrary.

"What? Why?" Shubri asked with a mix of anger and caution in her voice.

"I spoke with their representative a few days ago, our best source of slaves has dried up." He replied.

"What do you mean 'dried up'?" She asked.

"Well they 'were' buying slaves from the Abelion Hills, but a few years ago that region was taken over by a country called the 'Sorcerous Kingdom' and they banned the slave trade, plus most of the region was depopulated, so they're not selling many of their own anymore, buying demihumans is all but impossible." He clenched and unclenched his hands in frustration.

"So, what about the southern area, didn't you tell me once about how that country of humans was enslaving elves in the south? Can't the dark elves just buy those and sell them to us?" She asked, for once not angry, and offering a 'practical solution' it made Treiaal's heartbeat slow to a normal pace.

He however, dashed that hope, "No, even if they wanted to, there isn't a chance. For one the dark elves are sympathetic to their southern cousins. And before you ask, the Slane Theocracy isn't willing to sell humans to them, and the dark elves are not sure they could win an open war over that if it came to a fight. And last but not least, the Slane Theocracy is currently embroiled in a war with the Sorcerous Kingdom, which takes a dim view of slavery, so if they inject themselves into the conflict for that purpose, they may draw his ire. So, we'll not be getting slaves from the west, or from the south, or from the east." He said, frustration evident in his voice.

"So, why don't we use some of our northern tunnels and raid that northern kingdom, Re-Estize?" She asked. "We don't need to conquer the whole country, just raid villages and take enough to do the work for us." She said simply.

Treiaal sighed again, "Your majesty, the Re-Estize Kingdom has been embroiled in the same war, the few merchants who go north that way tell us that the royal house for that kingdom has an alliance with the Sorcerer King, and if we start raiding there, we may again draw the ire of that country down on us."

"So what?" She asked angrily, "We live within the very bosom of our god! What can possibly harm us here?!" She asked. "And more than that, what do we even know about this new kingdom, it seems to have a knack for ruining my day at the very least."

"Little." Treiaal admitted reluctantly, we don't trade much with Re-Estize, so all we get are rumors brought by merchants, the dark elves don't exactly spend time talking to the Slane Theocracy, and what we've gotten from the Abelion Hills is so unbelievable that I wouldn't credit it as more than rumor except for the abject insistence and consistency of everybody that we've talked to. "I think we need to consider a diplomatic mission to the Sorcerer Kingdom, perhaps we can find some middle ground as far as slave labor goes." He said thoughtfully.

Queen Shubri grimaced. "If I'd known being Queen was this much trouble…" She shook her head, dismissing her remaining words and leaving them unspoken. "Fine, see to it." She said, and just as she was about to dismiss her high priest, a direwolf rider slammed through the gate, leaped from his mount, and rushed to the base of the throne.

Shubri would have stood up at the outrageous breach of protocol, but the look on the rider's face told her it was not for nothing. "What is it?" She said, dread filling her voice.

"I bear word, a diplomatic envoy has just arrived from the Sorcerous Kingdom, in their party is the king himself!" The dwarf said emphatically.

She traded a glance with her advisers and then looked back down at the kneeling rider. "And? That is very big news, but there had better me more than that to excuse your outrageous violation of protocol." She said, rebuking him.

He did not waver, nor did he disappoint. "There is, your majesty, the Sorcerer King, he is an undead. I rode next to him my queen, he is… powerful." He said, finishing the last word in a hushed tone that carried a heavy weight of fear on its back.

"I see." She said. "What position do you serve in?" She asked.

"Your majesty, I am an outrider." He replied.

The court froze. Treiaal felt a tingle run down his spine, Outriders were the bravest of the brave, they feared neither death nor pain, they were the most experienced direwolf riders the Understone Empire had, for one to feel fear was one thing, but to admit it blatantly before all in the royal hall? That was not an admission of weakness, that was a warning.

"How long before they arrive? Tell us everything." She commanded and sat up in her throne, attentive and interested at last.

_…Swiftriver…_

Five thousand dark dwarf wolf riders rode into the town of Swiftriver. It was one of the few fishing towns in the understone empire, the great river tied to the sea at the coast through an ingenious system of levies and dikes that diverted water through the many regions under the mountain. These systems ensured a steady supply of water for the algae farmers, the mushroom farmers, and the moss farmers, each of which were critical to life under the mountain. Moss fed the small herds and allowed a space for insects to live that were consumed by the bats that were harvested in turn, while unused moss was woven into a cloth that always gave off a faint glow, some varieties blue, some green, a few red, and one purple, which sold for a high price to the few who were connected to the royal family, and which were the only ones allowed to wear the purple. The algae augmented the diet of both dwarves and slaves alike, since it grew easily and in a vast quantity, it was very cheap, and was made into soups or added to stews, though it had no flavor, it was filling and it had some nutritional value. The rest of the town centered on fishing due to an unusual wide bow in the river and an undercrop that was popular for fish to congregate in, as a result, the yields were high and the catch was always fat. Most of these tasks were tended to by slaves.

When those five thousand dark dwarf dire wolf riders left Swiftriver, the bellies of the wolves were full, and the town was empty of slaves, and bait for the new dark dwarf laborers to fish with was very, very cheap.

_…Entown…_

"So, what do you call this place?" Ainz asked casually as he took a seat in the finest inn the town could offer. He was addressing a dark elf maid, she was thin, as elves tended to be, well fed and of slight features and a deeply tanned skin, he noticed that her ears had not been cut and she wore no collar or other indication of bond service, though she appeared nervous, he chalked that up to his being both undead and royalty.

"Your majesty, we call this place 'Entown' as it is the 'entry town' to the Understone Empire." She said politely as she laid down a small honey cake in front of the three living members of his party.

"I see, what can you tell me about it, and about yourself?" He asked.

She blushed, "Your majesty is asking a mere maid?" Her voice was one of disbelief.

"Should I not?" He asked, "Is there some custom or rule against it?" He asked with innocent curiosity.

"N-no it is just…" The dark elf girl looked flustered, she seemed to have tensed up.

"Excuse me, your majesty." Tuara stood and bowed to him, "If I may beg a moment's indulgence, I believe I can assist my…my ah… maid sister in her difficulty."

Ainz nodded royally and gestured to the flustered dark elf girl. Tuare rose and walked around the table, she took the flustered girl by the arm and pulled her away from the table, almost tugging the girl off her feet.

"Please listen to me." Tuare said as she leaned in and whispered to the girl, coming close enough that they were almost cheek to cheek. "I realize he's… OK yes, terrifying, but please believe me there is no better king in all the world, he values answers from anywhere, he's not asking so he can bait you into being in trouble, or being punished, he truly wants your thoughts."

"But he's an undead king, what exactly can I tell him?" The girl said hoarsely.

"The truth, it's all he wants from anyone, just speak your mind honestly and politely, and I promise you won't regret it, he's uniquely himself, a king among kings, I have attended to his gatherings, and seen the difference up close, emperors speak with deference to him, but he also speaks so kindly to the lowliest of servants that we are elevated merely by his decency alone, he is the standard by which other rulers outside this place measure themselves, and all he wants of you is that you speak your own mind. I'm a maid in his home, as you are here, I have served him for years, please take a leap of faith for a service sister and trust me." Tuare said emphatically.

She straightened, and the dark elf maid did as well, and Tuare returned to her seat beside Yuri Alpha, who looked at her with expecting eyes.

A moment later expectation was fulfilled, as the dark elf maid curtsied politely and said, "Forgive me your majesty, I was flustered for a moment, to answer your question truthfully, I am Haile Naya, and I have worked at this inn for five years as a maid. I came to work here by choice when a hunt went too poorly to feed my tribe entirely, and so I, and several sisters within my tribe, took jobs working for the dark dwarves here. They treat us well and pay us fairly. We are not abused in any form, so I would say our lives are happy ones."

"Have you ever been inside the mountain itself?" He asked.

She shook her head, "That is forbidden, only the dwarves themselves, their slaves, or very special select dignitaries of high station are permitted within the body of their god."

"Do the slaves ever come out?" He asked pointedly.

She shook her head slowly. "None. Not even their bodies." She said softly.

"Are they given sky burials?" He asked.

"No sire, whatever they do with them, that is not it." She said, confident in her knowledge.

It was just then that a dark dwarf came into the inn, he had an official look about him, wearing a tunic of blue fabric that gave off a very faint glow, and he approached the table where they sat. He knelt beside the king and said, "Your majesty, a reception is being prepared, it will be ready by the time we arrive, if you would like to depart with me now." He said formally.

"I see." He said and removed a platinum coin and placed it on the table in front of him. "Thank you, Haile Naya."

She stared in awe at the enormous sum of money, the kind of tip only a king could give.

"Anything your majesty requires, Haile Naya will provide." She said, her eyes shimmered brightly as they met his own, they were brave eyes, milky white with wide shining purple pupils. Whatever he had done, had left a powerful impression on her.

Tuare smiled at the girl, her radiant face seeming so vastly different to Ainz than when they had first seen one another. He made a mental note to provide a suitable reward to Tuare after everything was done, for helping the dark elf to open up to them the way she did.

The party stood, and the Sorcerer King looked down at the thickly bearded dark dwarf, "Let's be off then, there is business to be seen to."

"As you say, your majesty, please follow me." He said, then stood, and led them out of the building.

**AN: Well, here's chapter 3. The whole story is up sooo...go nuts, leave reviews you lazy bastards :P (Kidding, kidding, but seriously, I want to hear what you thought, I love feedback)**


	4. Making Acquaintance

_…Seoth'Kardia…Throne Room…_

"Prepare a reception at once!" Queen Shubri said forcefully, gesturing to her prime minister, "Use whatever resources you require, but have something ready ten minutes ago!" She said emphatically. "I will not have the Understone Empire shamed by poor performance before any other ruler! Anyone who fails had better be prepared to lose their heads!" She shouted as she got to her feet. "I'm going to go get changed into proper formal dress, be ready by the time I get back!"

She stormed off without a backward look, with two servants rushing behind her to assist in her own form of 'battle preparations' as royalty in every land understood it best.

_…Seoth'Kardia…City proper…_

Ainz walked at the center of his band, allowing Gondo to take the lead so that a fellow dwarf, even if they were a northerner, would be seen first by others, and that Ainz himself would not cause a panic when he was observed, or at the very least, so that the presence of a dwarf and some other humans, or so Yuri Alpha appeared, would be more likely to create caution and second guessing, rather than outright terror.

"Tell me everything that catches your eye, Gondo." Ainz said thoughtfully as they looked around.

The streets of Seoth'Kardia were smooth polished stone, not pavement, the roads cut right into the mountain, a complex system of pipes made of copper ran along either side of the street, creating road divisions that split apart the roadways from the walkways, at equal intervals however there were also places where an additional pipe branched off and ran to connect to various buildings. Each building had a simple box shape and appeared to have been carved from the stone itself, remaining more or less 'part of' the mountain it had been carved into, with additional buildings one atop the other, with yet more roadways carved in a branching pattern and further guided by copper pipes that again divided to run and connect from one building to another. The branched piping in the walk areas always sat a few inches into the rock in a smooth, carved out trench, over which a small copper grate about the width of a hand was laid.

"Clever." Gondo said thoughtfully, "I'd guess that is water piping, and those grates ensure people can pass over without tripping, while also allowing technicians to come and service any pipe that has corroded or been damaged, this way they're not reliant on wells and don't have to dig too much." He stroked his beard in interest as they followed their guide.

Tuare was looking around herself, but she saw very different features. A goblin was pushing a cart down the road and obviously struggling, but more noticeable to her eyes was that he was harnessed to it. The goblin appeared both muscled and emaciated, like he worked hard, but ate little. He appeared clean enough, but as he turned onto a side road Tuare got a look at his face and saw a blank, hopeless expression, like he'd given up all hope for a better life. It was an expression that transcended race and reminded her far too much of herself before her rescue. A whimper of pity passed her lips, like the noise a child might make when finding a wounded bird for which they could do nothing. Then the goblin was gone from view, and she did not miss a step.

Yuri Alpha did not falter in her step either, she simply held on to the front of her maid outfit and gave hard glares at what else she saw around her. She stood at the right of the Sorcerer King and said in passing, "Your Majesty, the miasma of this place, the cruelty is thick as soup."

Not far away they saw a group of slaves secured together and trudging forward. They marched side by side in pairs, each one secured by a collar at the neck, with a chain running from that to a large wooden beam between them, each was secured to one side of the beam, and through the beam in the center there was a long iron pole. As the group of twelve reached a central area, a dark dwarf marching them called a halt and commanded that they kneel. This group was composed of goblins, orcs, and ogres, they were also apparently familiar with this routine. They knelt on command, and the dwarf approached the front of the beam and pulled out the rod that ran from one end to the other. It was then that Ainz noticed, reluctantly, the ingeniousness of the device, for the beam came apart into large squares, and now it was evident that each pair of slaves were secured together, and each was secured to someone uneven to themselves, so that cooperative movement was difficult at best. The slaves, clearly knowing what was expected of them, got to their feet and approached a small building, the first to reach it, walked in and then came out with a number of implements, there were gloves, brooms, cloths, buckets, and other items that gave away the nature of their task. The dark dwarf overseer gave a rapid set of instructions and then pointed to where they now stood.

"I see, so that is how they do it." Ainz said softly, he'd noticed immediately how clean the city was, and now the method was revealed. The slaves trudged off on their own, and the overseer walked across the street and sat down at an outdoor area with a number of tables, a black bearded dark dwarf in a dress approached as he looked at a menu, and Ainz looked away as he lost interest.

Now that he'd noticed that much, he began to see everything much more clearly, a stark picture began to emerge of how these mountain people functioned. The dark dwarves they saw walking the streets moved in orderly fashion, they were efficiency in motion, not a single movement wasted. They didn't take time or pause or dawdle in the public areas, except for those establishments that seemed to sell alcohol, in this they were much like the dwarves Ainz was more familiar with. However when not sitting and drinking, the soldiers and citizens alike moved purposefully, as if to delay anything or anyone is a criminal offense. He saw no beggars or evidence of poverty, but one thing stood out. Some dwarves wore rich, feather laden outfits, brightly colored and dusted lightly in places by a substance that caused the feathers to glow faintly. He thought back to the report he'd read about the various glowing plants that had some utility in practicality and in fashion, and it wasn't hard to conclude that these few were an example of that use.

His collector's heart was moved, but he said nothing for a time as they were guided ever closer to a very large building in the distance. It was carved deep into the mountain surface. There were arches one atop another, then beside another in turn, though they seemed more for decoration than for stability. As the distance closed, he saw great columns had been carved into the stone and painted a marble white to contrast against the black stone, and all around him he could hear the sound of hammers that spoke of the industrial wealth of these dwarves beneath the mountain.

"Your Majesty, save for the… social differences and practices, these remind me very much of my home." Gondo said, but his voice did not carry happiness.

"You don't sound happy about that." Ainz remarked casually.

"Your Majesty, I'm not. It isn't the similarities I dislike, it is the differences. I admit my people are not perfect, but the cruel way those slaves were chained together, the fear even ogres showed at the whips the overseer brandished, the scars on slave bodies, the hurried and even fevered pace of those who were not slaves, and…" he paused and ceased to speak, closing his mouth completely as if he did not wish to continue.

"Gondo?" Ainz said, putting a mild force of command to his voice.

"The drinking." He finished reluctantly.

"What of it?" Ainz asked, "I thought it was common for dwarves to love alcohol?"

Gondo closed his eyes slowly, took in a deep breath, and looked up at the Sorcerer King. "That isn't what I mean, my Lord. I mean in those places that served alcohol, I heard no music and I heard no song, I saw many dwarves drinking, but I didn't see anyone toasting, cheerful… happy. In my home, despite all the hardship we endured against the Quagoa, we still had songs in our taverns, we drank with our friends, we loved our lives. But these?" He said, sweeping his hand out to encompass the industrious city. "These seem to drink because they hate their lives, that 'miasma of evil' seems to be a pool in a pit of unhappiness. I do not envy them. Not even a little." He said sadly.

That gave Ainz pause and he was silent. They were all silent as the distance to what seemed to be the palace continued to shrink. It made the man within the undead remember the constant pressures of work, the way people slaved away miserably and had nothing but either the virtual world, drugs, or alcohol to fill their lives. They did those things not out of love of them, but only because reality itself was worse. He wondered if this unhappiness, which was now clear thanks to Gondo's observation, was spread throughout their country or found only in this place.

He was still contemplating that when they came close to the castle and he saw that the dwarves guarding the gate were missing their arms and legs, instead they had faintly glowing prosthetic limbs made of a grayish metal he identified as adamantite.

"What are they?" He asked loud enough for the escort to hear.

"Magacine soldiers." The dwarf answered. "They either lost their limbs in battle, or had them removed and replaced, those replacements are magic imbued prosthetics, it makes them into very formidable warriors, particularly with runic enchantment to them." He said proudly.

"Runes?!" Gondo said excitedly. "You use runecraft here?!"

The escort chuckled, "We do, you do also?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm head of Runecraft development back home! I must see what you've developed here!" He said, grinning widely and sounding so enthusiastic that the escort could not keep the happiness from infecting him as well.

"Not up to me, but bring it up during the reception and maybe you'll get permission to learn our methods, in exchange for yours of course." He added hastily, tempering his suggestion with a cautionary tone.

"I see, I see." Ainz said thoughtfully, and he let himself imagine how effective a fighting force that could be, where bodies themselves were augmented with something like machines of his home world, where limbs were literally hard as metal… it was a formidable vision, and more than his collector spirit came out, the covetousness of a king seeking to increase the power of his kingdom came with it.

They passed by the soldiers, whose augmented 'replacement limbs' glowed faintly in the low light of the understone city. They did not even glance at him, they stood straight ahead, unbothered by the weight of their orichalcum chainmail or the large conical helmets that were strapped to their heads. They exuded the warrior's discipline that Cocytus often praised.

As they entered the palace, Ainz gave a glance in Tuare's direction, she moved with patient, even steps. Her gaze was fixed firmly forward and her hands held low in front of her body, the quintessential maid posture. He made a mental note to praise Yuri Alpha and Sebas later for their efforts with her, and though he was certain she must have been nervous, she never faltered and neither gawked nor shook at the displays of power or artistry that made up the interior of the great dwarven structure. He felt a little smug, just a little, that a part of that reason was likely that it still did not hold a candle to the grandiosity of Nazarick. Though privately he admitted to himself, it was not without its charm and represented great talent and effort.

The palace was very large, he wondered how long it had taken to hollow out this part of the mountain. "A question for later." He thought to himself as he glanced around. While the outside of the palace had been entirely black and gray, the shades of the mountain stone, the inside had been painted richly with whites, blues, and the occasional splash of a deep, rich purple on certain doors. The hall down which they walked was enormous, wide enough for thirty to walk abreast of one another. Every footfall echoed off the stone, and the high ceiling contained intricate designs that, at a guess, were meant to glorify the royal family, showing victorious dwarves standing over fallen foes, carving into the mountain itself, or seated on a throne that, to them, must have been significant.

Here and there, Ainz saw servants bustling about. They bowed deeply, once at each encounter, but then scurried off in the same efficient motion as those outside the palace, urgently rushing off to whatever task they had waiting for them, and eventually the group from Nazarick reached a massive bronze door that was shaped like an outline of the mountain itself, as if one were to pass through the kingdom to come to its heart. It truly was bizarre, but… not without purpose at least. The doors groaned, loudly echoing down the hallway as they opened, and Ainz stepped into a large oblong room. There were dark dwarf servants along the walls, dozens of them, each smartly dressed, while in the center a long stone table, carved straight out of the rocky surface so that it was still part of the mountain, sat waiting for him. Every two to three feet there was a chair, also carved out of the stone surface, never able to move or be removed without destroying it. At every seat was a dark dwarf, and at the far end, was one richly bedecked in a faintly glowing purple fabric outfit, which had rich, soft looking feathers sewn into it in a pattern that Ainz noticed matched the banner on the wall. Without even needing to think about it, Ainz understood, "They built this place to last forever."

As they entered, every dwarf stood from their seat and the escort called out, "Announcing His Majesty, the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown of the Sorcerous Kingdom!" His voice echoed off the wall and before it faded, he had stepped aside. Tuare and Yuri Alpha moved to opposite ends of the wall and took up empty positions equidistant from their dwarven counterparts.

"Welcome to the Understone Empire." The richly bedecked queen said. "I am Queen Shubri Val Rakimpa. I have heard much of you, but also very little, Sorcerer King. I am eager to learn more, please, join me at my table." She said, and gestured to two empty seats at the end near where she sat. Gondo moved to take his place at the left side of the Sorcerer King, and as they approached the table, they broke off and walked the length of it at an equal pace as if in procession. Once they reached the empty seats, they sat in unison as the eyes of dozens of dark dwarves monitored every step with curiosity and caution.

Ainz took another look at the queen's crest. It showed a black shield background with a white hammer in front, with writing in her language underneath, the same writing was embroidered into the banner that hung centered above and behind her on the wall.

When the Sorcerer King sat, the queen clapped her hands together, and two doors behind her in opposite corners of the room opened, and wheeled carts, also made of stone, were pushed out as the servants stepped away from the walls and fell in behind the guests with enough space for the cart to move between the two. Tuare and Yuri Alpha mimicked the dwarf servants and fell into line behind Gondo and the Sorcerer King respectively. The servant behind the Queen moved to the front of the cart, drew a tray from it, and laid it down in front of her, then moved back into position. With this as an example, Tuare imitated the gesture for Ainz as well as she could, and received as her reward a very small approving smile from Yuri Alpha, just as she did the same with Gondo.

The process of serving went quickly, and as those trays left the room, two more came out, these bearing bottles and goblets of stone. Just as before, the first cart went to the Queen, and after she had a goblet in front of her, it moved to the right side, and then their counterpart moved to the left, and in perfect synchronization they poured a goblet for everyone at the table, before crossing one another's path and wheeling back out the doors through which they'd come in the first place. The task done, the servants behind the guests returned to the far walls and waited to be summoned.

All while this was going on, nobody had spoken at the table or even moved, it was only when the doors shut and the echo of their closing faded, that the Queen spoke again. "A toast to our guests, may the mountain god bless them."

"Strong in the hollow." The guests said with raised cups, and both the Sorcerer King and Gondo raised their goblets, however only Gondo drank, Ainz simply returned his cup to the table.

"Don't think me rude," he said as he looked down at the tray, "I'm afraid this body of mine does not eat or drink." He said politely, pointing to his obvious skeleton face.

"Ah, yes. Of course." Queen Shubri said without missing a beat. "Think nothing of it, though I hope your companion enjoys it?" She said as she glanced over at Gondo.

He very clearly did. He took a deep draught of the wine, and set the goblet down with a large smile on his face, "Very much so. I must find some way to have this imported home, I'm sure it would be a huge success there. What is it made from?" He asked enthusiastically, "I've never tasted anything like it."

"Stone grapes. Small fruits that look like pebbles, they're about the size of… oh, what is that surface fruit? Plumbs, and they ferment easily, they grow on the ground out of a form of moss that seems local to here." She said with a measure of pride in her voice.

"Well, it is fantastic." He declared with obvious pleasure.

"And the food?" She asked as he dipped his bread into a thick, rich looking red stew.

As he drew it to his mouth he took a bite, "Marvelous, has a nice hot flavor with a tangy kick, what is this?" He asked.

"Dragonling flesh in red sauce, the meat we harvest, but the red sauce is imported from the dark elves on the plains, they make it from a surface plant we can't grow on our terrace farms." She answered, again her voice showing her pride in her people's fare.

"Dragonling?" Ainz asked curiously, "Can you elaborate on that a bit?"

"Of course, Your Highness." she said with a sweet voice that was almost, but not quite, condescending. "Dragonlings are a kind of bird-like miniature dragon. Not intelligent like their larger counterparts, but covered in scales and they look like tiny versions of the large ones. We use them for many things and they breed in great numbers. The meat is reserved mainly for ourselves. We feed the slaves the inferior meat from normal birds that we hunt primarily to harvest the feathers from."

"I see, fascinating." Ainz said, ignoring her somewhat condescending voice.

"Now, you said you'd heard of me, I wonder, what do you know?" He asked curiously, folding his skeletal hands on the table in front of him.

She smiled as she stroked her thick black beard. "Well, it seems you have a real knack for unintentionally inconveniencing me." She half heartedly joked. "I know you're fighting a very large war at the moment, and I know your anti-slavery policies are presenting a real problem to me. Beyond that…" She shook her head, "I really don't know much."

"You are direct." Ainz said flatly.

"We like to call it… efficiency." She said politely but coolly.

"We have our mutual ignorance of one another in common." He said diplomatically, "So let us build on that common ground and see what we can learn of one another, perhaps some fortunate arrangement can be made that will benefit the both of us." His words were kind and diplomatic, his voice was cool and calm, but within he could not keep back his irritation, and it infected his thoughts, "That's a rude thing to say to a guest who has come calling. Direct is one thing, but she's being condescending to boot, she should be more cautious at the very least, it isn't as if she knows anything useful."

"Alright, will you educate us?" She asked kindly.

The table, abuzz with conversation, paused when the Sorcerer King cast a spell that displayed an image of the nations surrounding the Understone Empire above the table. They looked up at the stunning representation, and the more quick witted began to feel a faint chill.

"Here is where my capital city rests." He said and pointed to E-Rantel, and the area around it turned black. "Over here is the Baharuth Empire, they are my vassal state." He said, pointing to Arwintar, and the black shade spread out over the tan coloring of the map until the region was a mass of darkness. "Here is the Draconic Kingdom, they are an allied state that is requesting to become an official fully integrated province of the Sorcerous Kingdom." Once again as he pointed to the capital, the darkness spread out and covered their territory until the tan was gone and only black remained. "Here is the Roble Holy Kingdom." He said and pointed to Hoburns. "They are divided between North and South, with the South being one of the belligerents in the war, when the war ends, the Queen of that country intends to integrate her nation into my kingdom as a province." Again the territory ruled over by his supporters turned black, while that of the hostile area took on a black stripe pattern. "Here is the Re-Estize Kingdom, they were a hostile power under King Philip, and had been allied against me after pushing out the old royal family. I have since 'solved' that problem, and the last two cities will fall in less than a week, and they will become a vassal state with an eye to future integration into my kingdom." He pointed again to the capital, and the black spread out and covered the entire country.

He paused and looked around, faces looked very grave, but they were paying very close attention. He pointed to the mountain range between the two countries. "This is the Dwarf Kingdom of the north, where Gondo here comes from, they, the frost dragons, frost giants, and quagoa from this region are all vassals or citizens of mine." The entire mountain range turned black. "This is the Abelion Hills, a few years ago, I destroyed the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth who led them to invade the Roble Holy Kingdom, I also conquered that region and have made it a province of mine." The region turned black after he finished speaking. "Here is the Beastman Kingdom, I defeated them years ago to save the Draconic Kingdom, and they are now a subject state drawing resources from me to rebuild, once they have reconstituted themselves, they will be given vassal status and eventual integration, with all the benefits that entails." That region also turned black.

He looked from the end of the table and back to Queen Shubri. "These are all the lands of mine. Now the rest." He said, "You know already of the Slane Theocracy, they were allied with King Philip of Re-Estize, and are still allied to King Astraka of the Holy Kingdom, and the Elf King from Crescent Lake in the Elf Kingdom. This is what I have taken thus far." He said, and blue stripes covered portions of the Slane Theocracy, the Holy Kingdom, and almost all of Re-Estize save for two small spots.

"That is why you have not been able to buy slaves, because we either now surround you, or will completely surround you very soon." He said very calmly. When he had said and done all that, he waved his hand and canceled the spell, and looked back over to Queen Shubri.

She sat there silently, shaking with rage.

**AN: Review damnit. ;) **


	5. Powerful Impressions

_…Seoth'Kardia…_

After the Sorcerer King explained the situation as it now stood to Queen Shubri, he glanced down the length of the table, where her face was quaking with rage, the other dwarves' faces reflected fear and anxiety. However, the Sorcerer King did not stop there.

"Additionally, the Slane Theocracy's defenses are cracking, their insurrection under a fallen paladin named Remedios Custodio is going to be defeated fairly soon, and my own invasion is about to counter directly into Crescent Lake, though that may take a few weeks' worth of work. Still though, before I have to stop the snow from falling, the worst of the war will be over and most of the remaining lands will be in my hands." He spread his hands apart, as if he was speaking casually and not relaying the way in which the world was changing without their noticing it.

"Excuse me." A dark dwarf's hand went up.

"Yes…?" Ainz asked.

"Ah, yes, my name is Haldon, I'm head of the Mystic Reeves. I'm sure I misunderstood you, but I thought you said, 'Before you have to stop the snow from falling?' What did you mean to say?" His voice carried a note of incredulity, though whether at his hearing or the idea he thought he heard, was unclear to Ainz.

"No, your hearing is fine, if the fighting stretches till the late winter storms would cover the conflict areas, I will stop the snow from falling. For me, changing the weather is a trivial task. Though I don't like to do it as it would disrupt the cycles of nature, still... to end the dispute sooner, it would be worth doing once." Ainz said casually.

Gondo hid his enormous, very smug grin behind his goblet as he pretended to drink from the now empty container, while Yuri Alpha and Tuare bit their lips to keep their own expressions from changing.

"Just how powerful is your magic, can you use as high as sixth tier?" Haldon asked dubiously.

"Oh no, I can go to the supertier stage." Ainz answered.

Haldon put his thumb and forefinger just below his lips and stroked the spot thoughtfully, "I don't know that, what is it, if I might humbly ask, Your Majesty?" He said, looking intently into the red eyes of the skeleton king.

"There are ten tiers of magic, then one beyond that which is called 'super tier', a more powerful version of its predecessor, so call it eleven tiers if you wish, and I can use all of them." He answered succinctly.

Haldon first went pale, then his eyes went wide. "Surely you're joking with this old dwarf, that can't be… can it?" He asked, "I wouldn't be so rude as to cast an appraisal spell on your august self, but I usually have a sense of when someone holds magic strength, even without a spell, and I don't feel anything."

"Ah, that is because of this." Ainz said and held up one skeletal hand, and pointed to one of the rings on it, "This hides the limits of my magical ability." He explained patiently.

Queen Shubri's dark and thundering face could barely contain her anger, and her voice was not much better when she said, "When you enter into another's home as a guest, it is considered rude to come bearing secrets."

Ainz did not rise to the bait. Gondo nearly did, but Ainz held up one finger, and so he forestalled unleashing his anger at the tone used on the Sorcerer King.

"I did not do it to keep it a secret, I did it so that I would not cause undue distress over dinner. The last who looked, threw up on the floor." He said, then added, "But if it is the wish of my host, I, as a guest, must comply."

Haldon looked to the Queen, who nodded emphatically.

"If you would please, Your Majesty." He asked with the utmost respect in his voice.

"Might I suggest a… bucket first?" He asked only half sardonically.

Haldon looked to the Queen, who rolled her eyes and caught a servant's eye. She swiftly rushed out of the room, and returned a moment later with a small bucket which she placed next to Reeve Haldon.

Ainz removed his ring, and Haldon cast his spell while the Sorcerer King waited patiently with one hand folded over the other on the stone table.

Haldon immediately went for the bucket, the world lurched as if he'd fallen from a cliff in a drunken stupor, he held his face deep beyond the rim and expelled the entire meal and all the spirits he had just consumed. The others at the table watched in absolute horror as the most powerful magic user in the Understone Empire was made violently ill by the mere observation of the power of the visiting Sorcerer King.

Ainz waited while the dwarf began to spit up the remainder, lightly drumming his skeletal fingers on the table, making a persistent rhythmic tapping sound. A number of those who sat nearby wondered if this was some kind of countdown to their demise. Their eyes were transfixed on the unliving bones as they slowly sent the gentle sound of death's tapping echoing from wall to wall. The stone walls that were the very flesh of their god, appeared to suddenly morph into a mausoleum, while the great hollow that was their home, felt like a final resting place.

At last the Reeve rose up and set the bucket down, Queen Shubri's face looked humiliated and infuriated, and her mood was not improved when he stared at the Sorcerer King and asked… "Are you… god?"

The soft words bounced from wall to wall, as if the cavernous hall did not want to let go of them.

"That is a matter of some dispute at the moment, though there are those who worship me as such." He added.

"I call 'im a god." Gondo said sharply. "To me, ees the god of runes, magic, and dreams. Some humans call him the god of justice, and some beastmen call him the god of war, while elves have called him the god of life." He held up his goblet, and Yuri filled it for him, he nodded appreciatively and added, "I'm a runesmith, son of a runesmith, I stuck with it when all my country abandoned our art and it was nearly lost. He saved our people from extinction, and saved our art from the same, ah don't know what's a god and what's not a god, but if he isn't one, ah don't know what is." He finished his goblet and slammed it down forcefully on the table.

"Ah am not a noble, ah am not a warrior or a king or even a city councilman, but ah can tell you this, were it not for that King right there, then there would be no dwarves in the north today, our arts would be lost, and if any of us did survive, it would be as scattered homeless exiles with no future but the grave." Gondo finished emphatically as he found he appreciated the strength of their alcohol, if not the nature of their company..

Yuri's face did not change expression, but Gondo felt her beaming at him from beyond his back.

Queen Shubri's face had lost none of its sour expression. The Reeve however, became more enthusiastic. "I want to hear everything." He said, and so Gondo launched into his story of the dwarves of his home mountain range, what terrible things transpired, the near total loss of their runic work, his encounter with the Sorcerer King, and how their world was turned upside down. The table, normally abuzz with conversation, was silent except for Gondo's story.

Ainz almost laughed more than once at the slight exaggerations he was putting to things, but the truth was, the story needed no exaggeration, two and a half hours later, he finished, saying, "…And that is how the frost dragons became mounts and servants for His Majesty, the quagoa were conquered, rune craft saved, our cities with all their treasuries restored to us, and our kingdom, as it came under his rule, entered the most prosperous and safest age it has had in a thousand years."

There were looks of awe and disbelief from the tanned counterparts.

"That is all well and good, assuming it is as he says…" Queen Shubri began, "but it forces me to ask you, what brings you to us today? You have a war going on, and now it appears so do we." She said unhappily.

"You're fighting a war?" The Sorcerer King asked, "Against who, are there quagoa here as well?"

"No, I know of no quagoa, I suppose it is nothing significant, just a slave rebellion gotten out of hand briefly, we'll kill them all, feed them to our god, and be stronger for it." She said with a dismissive shrug.

"I suppose I could offer to help you with that problem, if you need it. However, as we have had no contact with one another before, and have neither trade treaty nor an alliance, this would not come for free and the price I would ask is not a small one." He said pragmatically, the dwarves that had been sitting straight in their chairs, leaned forward and looked in his direction with great interest.

Queen Shubri laughed, "I think we can handle one little rebellion."

_…Mossyrock…_

The city of Mossyrock was one of the chief exporters of both edible and fabric ready moss, the natural moisture that leaked from the stone resulted in a constant rate of growth that had to be harvested almost every day by massive teams of slave laborers. As a result, despite the fact that Mossyrock held over one hundred thousand dark dwarves, it required over eighty thousand slaves. In addition to the cloth and food business, the mining industry was a place of constant labor, as it lay close to the great chasm, where the corpses of the slaves were thrown every day, while Mossyrock was not the only disposal city, it was the largest, and slaves lived every day being reminded that no matter what they did for the rest of their lives, they'd be thrown into the chasm as discarded waste to feed the magic power of their mountain god. It was a miserable existence.

Any slave would agree, Thrall knew that very well, he was one of them. Before he was a slave, he was a hunter. When Jaldabaoth had come, he was among those who were captured and sold. He passed in chains from hand to hand until he fell into the carts of the dark elves, who in turn sold him to the dwarves under the mountain. As a result, he hadn't seen the sun in years.

He sometimes thought it was just a dream, that he had always been here under the glowing moss sky of Mossyrock, that the 'Sun', once so vivid and bright, was just a fantasy born of sleep and futile hope. He wiped his brow. He was sweating and he stank; both of those were constant states in the hot, humid temperatures here. The stone the moss grew off of was hot to the touch and the water that dripped down was only slightly less so. The moss they cut away with their barely useful, mostly blunt scrapers, was soggy, dirty, grimy, and almost hot enough to burn the skin. Thrall had built up a tolerance to the touch in the form of thick calluses now, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the work anymore than he did when he first started.

He filled his quota basket and descended the ladder with great care, it was a cheap thing, old and patched in numerous places. Not exactly the strongest wood anymore, but until it broke with someone on it, it was not going to get replaced. If a slave broke their leg, so what, if a slave hit their head and died, well, it was just too bad. Their dwarven masters would simply feed them to the chasm and replace them. It was a hateful existence.

He gingerly stepped off the ladder and looked once back up at the massive wall he was still working, five baskets in, ninety-five baskets to go. It looked like he'd barely made a dent in his patch. He was snapped out of his reverie when a dark dwarf overseer's whip cracked against his back. He howled and fell to his knees clutching the injury, but not daring to let go of the valuable moss.

"Back to work!" The overseer shouted, and brandished the whip as Thrall looked back at him. He got to his feet, and hurried off, dumping his supply into a large cart and taking a chit from an overseer there to mark his fifth delivery. Each return would merit a chit, and when the shift was over the chits would be counted at a table, if the quota was met, they ate. If the quota was not met, they did not eat. If the quota was dramatically over expected numbers, there were sometimes small rewards. Cheap sour wine, a honey cake, extra rations, or conjugal time with the male or female of choice in the same work crew.

In theory the system was almost 'fair', however in practice, guards threw out chits from laborers they didn't like, or just 'miscounted' or otherwise imposed a penalty for some real or imagined slight. Slaves that acted as informers got extra chits for extra perks, and so on. The latter reward, that of conjugal time, intended to spark division and hostility between slaves, eventually evolved into some unwritten rules that the slaves themselves enforced among one another. A pair who were interested in each otherwould quietly arrange to work nearer together, and come to a sort of pseudomarital pact, wherein they would use their chits to have conjugal time, and once it was understood that a pair had effectively formed a bonded pair, no other prisoner was to use their chits on either part of the union. While the guards didn't give a damn, the other slaves did, and… well, an accident can happen anywhere. Even the informers were safer than those who sought to disrupt a union, because the overseers actually cared about having sources of information.

This system had ruled in Mossyrock for centuries, and it was one Thrall was still living under that morning when the alarm bells rang and dark dwarf light infantry, wolf riders, mages, and magicine infantry rushed to the gates. The din was overwhelming, bells and horns were sounding alarm and dwarves were bellowing out orders to the living that were loud enough that Thrall thought they'd wake the dead.

Overseers did their job expertly; they herded the slaves like cattle into premade areas where they could be easily secured in great numbers. Some overseers were more or less cruel about it than others, taking no time to heap verbal abuse or violence on their slaves, but the whips cracked periodically, sometimes in the air as a warning, sometimes on an unwary back. However, most of these slaves had been long since broken of their rebelliousness, and so they made no effort to struggle, only pliantly accepted their position as the chains were latched to metal poles attached to the stone walls. A few overseers hung back to watch for signs of rebellion, most however were duty bound to answer the call to alarm.

Storming tunnels was different than storming walls, the low and narrow field of fire meant that the dark dwarf spell casters and archers had an easy avenue to fire from when the rebels appeared. The tunnel was broad enough for ten to pass abreast, and beyond it was a series of gates to allow various forms of traffic to pass through in a controlled fashion, each gate was secured by a small tower offering a field of view and allowing them to easily track fields of approach to direct those at ground level. Hypothetically, storming it should have been a death march.

However… Iontariil had one advantage, the ideal armor for the ogres who were leading the charge. Bodies. Dark dwarf corpses. The ogres that charged at the front ranks had corpses tied over their bodies and spells that hit, struck those first, arrows that hit, sank into the soft flesh of the dead and did not penetrate deeply, or usually at all, when it came to the ogre's already thick, tough hides. And so rather than falling like blades of grass in a breeze, they charged on, absorbing the fire thrown their way by the few unprepared guards, and slamming into the gates at full speed. The gates did not break, but they did 'bend' and more importantly, the ogres could toss the small, lightweight orcs and goblins over the top, and thus catch the dark dwarf soldiers in between a rock and a hard place. The towers fell, the soldiers died, and the gates opened, allowing the flood of slaves to enter the city with howls of hunger, not dissimilar to the direwolves the dark dwarves relied upon for cavalry.

The fury of the slaves was unleashed on the masters, and they became masters no more. Overseers pulled out whips and tried to slow the tide while fumbling for swords, only to find that in slowing one slave with a stinging blow to eye or chest, another would close in and remove the whip bearing arm, and the slaves continued the massacre.

Dark Dwarf citizens turned and fled inward, trying to get away from the tide of terror and revenge, and as a result they clogged the roadways and aided the massacre while impeding the rescue. Eventually, the slaves killed their way towards competent opponents, dwarves with runic prosthetic legs leaped high overhead and landed on an individual, crushing a skull, their kicks sent goblins, orcs, and ogres flying. Their runic magicine limbs were usually swords, axes, or hammers, extending to one degree or another over what had been intact arms. For some the attachment was right at the wrist, for others it was all the way to the elbow, such dwarves were also equipped with impressive armor, orichalcum was the standard, though leaders could have adamantite, and these too were usually enchanted.

It was only when the fighting became thick and fierce, with the first wave of magacine heavy infantry stopping the slave advance cold, that Iontariil left his position and moved for the front. Finding space to fight was difficult, but foot by foot he moved up to the killing ground, and found himself facing off against an unusually large dwarf bedecked in adamantite armor and holding a center position around which a dozen slaves lay dead or screaming their deaths to the stone sky.

The dwarf had neither of his arms intact, instead one was a long metal ax, while the other was a mace.

The pair glared at one another in a frozen instant of the fight, a momentary pulse where both sides had withdrawn to pause for breath before they could resume the struggle. Each knew the other had chosen their prey, and Iontariil took up an ax out of the back of a dead dwarf.

At the unspoken signal, dwarves and slaves closed in again to hack at one another, Iontariil knew he had to finish the fight soon, too much was at stake in this city. If the mages congregated and came to support the heavy infantry, the magic bombardment of fireballs might finish the rebellion before its first great victory.

He snarled and charged the huge dwarf, the mace came down, but he wasn't there to receive the blow, he stepped aside, and the ax that was the dwarf's left arm swung wide as if to cut him in half at the waist, but Iontariil was faster, he dropped down, let it pass overhead, and jumped back, up, stepped into and behind the dwarf, spun and using the full force of his momentum, hit the dwarf in the head with the ax. The ax bent into an unusable state, unable to cut through the adamantite helmet, however it sent the massive dwarf reeling from the force, which Iorantiil took advantage of, as the dwarf went down and landed on his front, before he could rise, the massive orc rebel stomped hard near the end of the helmet, giving him a small gap between head and body, exposing the neck, and that was where he thrust the short sword. The dwarf screamed, but only once. With that done, he drew his short sword out, hefted it up, and brought it down, severing the thick neck in one blow.

He picked up the head and held it aloft, the stunned, terrified face of the dark dwarf, who must have been a figure of great renown, stared blankly back at the heavy infantry, and the war cry of the orc carried the hatred and fury of the victim, unleashed on the now helpless oppressors. The will of the heavy infantry was shattered, their morale had broken, the slaves onslaught was renewed with increased vigor, and though some were dwarves of true courage, all they could do was trade their lives for moments or minutes for the residents of the city to escape, and many of their comrades with them, fighting a desperate retreat, outnumbered and soon outflanked as the slaves swept over more and more of the city, leaving only corpses in their wake.

They were given pause again when the direwolf riders entered the fray, numbers of slaves were torn apart and thrown bodily into the ranks of their brethren, with the rapid cavalry always outpacing pursuit, it was not until some sensible slave began to order his people to take the high ground by scaling buildings, and they began to drive away the cavalry with projectiles in the form of stones, knives, etc, which could not be dodged in numbers in the city streets, that this too turned against the slave masters.

It was not until the mages reached the point where their spells were in range that the rebels completely halted their advance. Fireballs and ice daggers came raining down almost without end, giving the fighters only a moment's pause before mana was restored and the attack was resumed. The dark dwarves had, however, lost all taste for battle, and it was clear that they were only fighting a delaying action, and so, as the last dwarf soldiers were defeated, Iontariil went to the largest building he could find, where the banner of black shield and white hammer hung, and he threw it down into the street.

Cheers echoed over the city, drowning out the cries of the dying, and the sound of their gurgling when a well-placed dagger ended those cries permanently.

Iontariil called for assembly at the city center, and then he dispatched fifty of his people to go and seek out the place where the slaves had been held. He sat there atop an improvised platform on a low, one story building, simply being looked at in awe by his followers. From where he sat looking down on them, he seemed to their eyes to be an avatar of god, he who had shattered the masters and freed the slaves. He said nothing and allowed nothing to be said.

Silence fell over the city, and that silence was still continuing when a goblin found Thrall's position. The young orc looked at him in abject confusion, uncertainty and a sparkle of hope. The goblin smiled, and with a stolen key taken from the corpse of one of the overseers outside, Thrall was free.

"Come, hear the voice of our deliverer." The goblin said proudly.

Thrall rubbed his wrists, they were sore, he didn't remember the last time he'd really felt them at all, but sore or not, he followed, because this was something, he wanted to hear for himself.

**AN: Well, have you reviewed yet? ;) **


	6. The Pits

_…Pit City…_

Bad news travels faster in the darkness.

But that didn't bother D'jan, he was laughing in the darkness. He was the only one who did. To say Pit City was dark was to give midnight in a cave a bad name. It was the city under the city, the second deepest place in the Understone Empire. Go any lower, and you're in 'god's guts' as they called the chasm where the dead were tossed. He'd come to Pit City when he struck an overseer up above ground… where 'above ground' meant still under the mountain just not 'this far' under the mountain. Normally he'd have been gutted, his entrails held out, and then kicked into the hole to watch his own intestines unravel from inside him like the world's most unpleasant rope until he was quite literally rendered 'gutless'… or landed down on whatever god lived down there that ate the dead and introduced himself to it, whichever came first.

However, D'jan had one talent that made him useful, he could always find the crystal, even in the deepest darkness, he could find a vein of the stuff, the mana crystals cycled up through the stone through some method even he didn't understand, forced up from below, and then were mined like gold ore, and used to replenish the magic of the dwarf mages, or melted down to be blended with the prosthetics of the magicine heavies. So rather than kill him, they tossed him down in the pits.

Every day they loaded up buckets, baskets, and so on, and every day those were raised up to the upper city dwellers of Cliffside, and if they made their quota, Cliffside lowered down food, water, even small amounts of poultices to treat injuries. When someone died, they just jammed a hook into the torso and let the Cliffsiders raise up the dead to be sent off for disposal.

Oddly enough, Pit City had the most freedom out of any slave quarter anywhere. There were no overseers, nor was there a need for them, if material wasn't mined, then no food or water was provided. It was a bizarre form of trade, and as a consequence Pit City had its own form of government down below, slaves set the shifts, punished slackers, executed the ones who caused problems for the rest, and except for the miserable heat and back breaking labor and the complete lack of any light, it was almost pleasant. If anyone tried to climb out of Pit City, Cliffside's soldiers killed them and then punished the entire area by not providing food or water that day. Would be escapees were stopped by their fellows.

Attempts at tunneling out using their neglect as an asset, resulted in an entire area being completely flooded and killing a thousand slaves, the prisoners themselves covered up the attempt, drawing the conclusion that this was why there were no guards, there was nowhere to go and the only way out was the same way they'd come back down.

All in all, it was a grim existence, which was why nobody laughed in the darkness. D'jan did, every day he looked up the long channel that led up to Cliffside and every day he gave a deep belly laugh that echoed off the walls. Not that he thought anything was funny, no, never that. Nothing was funny, but because he knew the dwellers above didn't expect it and didn't want it, he laughed out of spite.

Most thought him a little touched in the head for doing that, he thought them touched in the head for not doing it. "Let them hear! If they don't like it, let them come down and tell me!" He thought with rage in his heart.

That day though, fast as bad news usually spread when new slaves were sent down to replace the dead, good news happened to come along. D'jan was busy sending a laugh up to the Cliffsiders when he saw the platform lowering with new slaves, a handful of goblins and an orc. Most of the time he'd just ignore it, they'd figure things out on their own when they got to the bottom, or they'd die and be replaced. Either way, he had no reason to care. This time however as they came lower and he got a look at their eyes, he saw something he hadn't seen since he ventured into the Understone Empire.

He saw hope. So when they got down, he wasted no time. "Welcome to Pit City, hope you like it, but you won't, which doesn't matter, cuz you're going to die here."

Grim laughter came his way. "Maybe." The orc said. "Maybe not."

"What, they going to 'commute' your sentence?" D'jan asked with a grim laugh of his own. "I've been down here for years, never seen nobody leave unless it was with a hook in their guts to haul em back up."

"Well wad'n a rebellion goin on when yah got sent here, I'll bet!" The orc responded.

"Rebellion?" D'jan asked.

"What, ain't heard the term? Means fightin back." The orc made a fist and held it up at chest height for emphasis. "That's what we was doin when we got caught, we're all scouts for Iontariil."

D'jan frowned. "You say that name like I'd know it, good news don't come down here, only bad news."

"Well you'll know'im right enough when he hauls your ass out of here to go kill the dwarves. He's the greatest, strongest fighter I've ever seen, I saw him swing an orichalcum hammer at an adamantite helmet, and he hit so hard the hammer bent backwards! I saw him grab a direwolf jaw and snout and rip the damn head open. I tell yah he can't be beaten."

"Uh huh." D'jan said, crossing his arms in front of him in disbelief. "So where'd this hero come from anyway?" He asked doubtfully.

The scouts looked at one another. "Well, he don't say much, we know where the rebellion started, so ah guess he was there, who knows before that? Course couple a rebellions got started up an then fell under him, all within days of each other, so who knows who kicked it off? Some say he was a Swiftriver mason, some say he was even working in Cliffside, but me I think he was workin in Rockfall, where the big mess got goin. Everybody's got their theory about which chain was his, but ain't nobody really care much. We're risin up everywhere, and ah don't think the dwarves c'n stop us now." He grinned.

"Not down here." D'jan said, "Not down here at all, here, you follow the orders of the other slaves, make your quota, and don't steal no food or water, you do your job, you do your part, you eat, you sleep, you drink safely till you die. You fuck it up, you steal, you cause troubles, we'll kill you ourselves and the dwarves won't be no problem no more for you, we on the same chain?" D'jan asked bluntly.

The party looked at one another, then nodded. "Yeah, we thick as the black, but you remember what I said, ain't none of us'll be here all that long."

_…Seoth'Kardia…_

The Sorcerer King shrugged, "As you like, in the meantime, let us settle on some trade terms. Trade benefits all of us, it is a good field to sow, and yields a rich harvest when tended properly." As he spoke, he gently reminded himself, "Always make sure the client sees something they can gain, first."

Out of the corner of one eye he saw a dark dwarf's eyes light up. 'Greed', it seemed, looked the same in every race.

Queen Shubri just rolled her eyes, "You can talk to my commerce minister about that, but as long as we get left alone here in the Understone Empire, I don't care about the details."

Ainz mentally frowned. "It seems I have failed to impress something important on you, Queen Shubri." He said.

Her eyes narrowed, "Yes?" She said.

"The world you know is changing, my being here is proof of that." He said gently.

"I don't understand." She said in annoyance, "Explain." She ordered. Yuri bristled at her tone, but Ainz overlooked it.

"How long have you ruled?" He asked politely.

"Ten years since my father and mother died." She said bluntly, "Why?"

"I'm sorry to inquire about a painful subject," he said, bowing his head politely, it drew favorable looks from her court, but from her, well, her expression was unchanged, "and how long do Dark Dwarves live? Are you an immortal race?" He asked.

"No, we are… long lived. My grandfather ruled for one hundred and eighty years and died at the age of two hundred and twenty, but he was long lived even for us. Most do not make it past the age of one hundred and eighty. Why?" She asked, curiosity and impatience were mixed into her voice.

"I am undead, I am a king, I am about to have the single largest empire this world has ever seen. I will not age, I will not tire, I will not sleep, and I need no heirs. My chief heads of government under me are also immortal, they will not die, and they are each of them, like myself, an army unto themselves. In the long span of my endless years, your life, stretched to its fullest, is but the span of a child's first breath. The cycles of growth and self destruction are ending with my reign, what is more, I am forward looking. New technologies, new avenues of study, expanded education, growth in trade, increased food supplies, a change in social policies, such as the eradication of the slave trade, everything beyond your mountain is changing and it will never be the same again." He said.

"Not for us." She said, "We trade with the dark elves, they take slaves for…" She began to say, only for him to interrupt.

"Not anymore they don't, and they won't." He said.

Her mouth hung open, nobody had ever interrupted her before.

"While I am here, I sent two of my dark elf subordinates to begin negotiations with the dark elf tribes outside, they will, I expect, be sending you a notice of alliance or submission to us by the end of the week. Even if they don't, there will be nowhere left for them to take slaves for you. The Abelion Hills are mine, if any of my people are taken, I will crush the ones responsible. The Slane Theocracy will cease to exist, and their people will be my people, and if anyone attempts to enslave my people there, I will crush the ones responsible. The Re-Estize people will be a vassal state and eventually integrated, if anyone should raid there to take slaves, I will…" He looked over at Gondo.

"Crush the ones responsible." Gondo finished the sentence for him with an emphatic nod.

"Your 'Understone Empire' has relied heavily on slave labor for countless generations, but all that is going to change whether you want it to or not, because there will be no more slaves coming to you to replace what dies off, and with your new rebellion, you're culling your own numbers of laborers already, aren't you?" He asked.

"How many have you put to death as a precaution?" He asked, he was speaking to Queen Shubri, but he was glancing at one of her advisors. As if he was compelled to answer, he nervously opened his mouth and spoke.

"Ah, several thousand, I ah, don't have exact numbers but ah… a lot, whole towns are left without that labor now." He replied.

"I take a dim view of slavery, it offends me." Ainz said as he laid out the facts for the queen in a cold, terrible, logical voice. She glared daggers at the official who had answered, but the knowledge was given and it could not be taken back.

"So you won't be making any exceptions for us to be able to buy them from you, and you won't let the dark elves engage in the practice to provide them to us either. Is that right?" She asked.

"Yes. Your old system is so broken it is literally killing your people right now, and you won't be able to continue to carry it out, however, I have an alternative." He answered.

"What?" She asked cautiously.

"Undead labor, it is currently being used by many of my people in multiple locations, the dwarves in the north have been at it for years, and have had no problems and ample success. Skeletons are stronger, they don't get tired, they don't think, they don't sleep, they don't eat, they can't cheat you, and they never argue or rebel. I will take every slave in your empire and relocate them, and in return I will lease you undead labor to mine and farm for you. The cost will be low, a percentage of the yield increase in everything you use them for…" Ainz was saying, and then she interrupted him.

"Absolutely not. Slaves have done the work for generations, slaves will do the work for generations more, not one sacred crystal will leave these halls." She said fervently.

Ainz froze. "What is a… 'sacred crystal'? He asked.

The Queen bit her tongue. "None of your affair."

He took the air of dismissal, "Well, those are the terms of my first proposal, you can take them now when you get the best bargain, or you can take them later, when your slaves are all dead or at your throats when you can only have the worst bargain. Now as to my second proposal, I want to build a road between Re-Estize and the South through the mountain."

The first part was cause for outrage, but at the second, Queen Shubri began to laugh. "Oh, that is funny, build a road through the mountain, like anyone could do that, the mountain is thirty miles wide in the first place, and in the second… wait... Where did you want to build it?" She asked, not really expecting an answer.

Ainz brought the map up above them again and pointed out a spot near the center. "Here." He said.

"In the second, that would pass between two of our population centers." She said with a firm shake of her head.

"True, but I can get it done in one week, and besides that, such a path would be greatly beneficial for trade between your kingdom, the north, and the south. Humans passing through there would stop in your towns and cities and spend money. New routes would be established and new routes for resource transportation would be opened up. I intend to tie all the lands together through trade and stability, creating for a slow and continuous improvement in the quality of life for all peoples. My vision has no room for slavery or exploitation. Now, assuming I can build the road I say I can, what is your answer?" He asked.

"Assume I am willing to entertain this fanciful notion." She said haughtily, "What would you offer us for it?"

"I would pay for the cost of relocating any displaced citizens, with greater than going value for their property. Likewise, I would cover the cost of construction, and leave all toll rights to you within your borders. Additionally all mineral material exposed by the construction will be handed to you for your use." He said politely.

Several of the higher ranking dwarves who were closer to her table were exchanging very favorable glances at one another.

"And how would you compensate for the taint?" She asked in a withering voice.

"Taint?" He asked.

"Yes, the taint of the outsider, the taint of damaging the very flesh of our god, who knows what foolish notions would be carried with travelers going back and forth, and we do not wish to see our mountain god tainted by a single one, let alone carve out his flesh for anyone's use but our own." She said utterly emphatically, there was not a hint of compromise in her voice.

"Majesty." A dwarf Ainz guessed was the commerce minister spoke up, "It may be that our foreign visitor does not know enough to appreciate the purity of our ways, may I suggest, if he is willing, that we host him for the next few days, and allow him to see our civilization for all the value that it truly holds?"

She sat back and lost her gaze in thought for a moment. "Very well, Minister Bicci, yourself, Priest Treiaa, and Reeve Haldon, will give him a tour of the Understone Empire, if Your Highness is willing to accept our hospitality for a few more days that is?" She added, turning to face the Sorcerer King as he slipped his ring back on.

"I would be honored." He said, bowing his head politely.

The three dwarves tasked with escorting him had a range of expressions on their faces from curious, to optimistic, to downright terrified. But none suggested that it would be anything but a great honor to serve as a tour guide to a foreign king.

As he caught sight of the expression on the head of the Mystic Reeves, he saw a very… very familiar face. His mind flew back to the memory of Fluder Paradyne when he was first exposed to the power of the Sorcerer King. It was fortunate that the Sorcerer King's face was as expressionless as it was, because he could not break his perfect poker face, when he realized he'd found someone… useful in achieving his aims.

_…Rebel position…Mossyrock…_

Iontariil looked over the assembled slaves. "You are now all free! You are now also completely screwed." He gave a fierce grin as he looked over the assembled masses. "Every single one of you here is under a death sentence, and you know the best way to solve that problem?" He asked.

Questioning looks met him in return.

"Kill the goddamned executioner!" He said and let out a deep laugh, one that quickly caught among the crowd and faded only slowly as it bounced from mountain wall to mountain wall.

Thrall laughed too, it felt good to do so, he hadn't laughed in a very long time.

"So that is what we're goin ta do! I need volunteers, you're going to raid every settlement, strike the chain off every slave, strike the head off every neck of every dwarf, gather all the supplies you can, and get back here. Everyone not on a raid, you're going to practice hour after hour so that when we meet them in battle again, we crush them all the more easily. We don't have to conquer this mountain, only make them think we can, and if they wait too long to beg us to leave, well, we'll just kill whatever's left!" He shouted.

"Iontariil! Iontariil! Iontariil!" They shouted back.

"Those going on raids, form ranks over in front of that big oaf over there!" He said and pointed to a large orc standing alone. "Everybody else, stay here, we've got a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it! Are you ready? Are you with me?!" He shouted.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" They shouted, but in the twisted echo of the understone city, as that echo went out and came back again, it sounded very much like 'Death! Death! Death!' and that suited Iontariil, Thrall, and every other slave there, just fine.

**AN: I particularly enjoyed doing this story, it was a real pleasure, if you're still reading it, I assume you like it. Thanks for reading. :) **


	7. Winning Friends

_...Seoth'Kardia city proper..._

"Your Queen does not like me." Ainz said bluntly as the trio led his party out.

The high priest swallowed. "Sire... surely..." He began to say, only to cut off his words when Ainz chopped his skeletal hand down decisively, severing his words.

"I speak the truth. We are not in her presence, we needn't begin by lying to one another, that would make for a poor start to things, wouldn't it?" He said as he looked at the flustered dwarf. The high priest was a rather round fellow. Even for a normally stocky dwarf, he carried himself like a man who had walked many miles. It was a normal thing it seemed, as a people, the dark dwarves seemed tired and unhappy, in the short time he'd observed them.

Minister Bicci spoke up, and he shook his head somberly as he did so, "You speak the truth, Your Majesty. But please don't take it the wrong way, I haven't ever known her to like anyone."

"Does she not love her people? Is it not proper for a ruler to love those they rule as if they were that ruler's own children?" Ainz asked with seeming uncertainty.

Reeve Haldon laughed, Ainz glanced at him, while the rest of his party glared. "Please forgive me, I don't laugh at your question, your majesty. It's just that it is a... novel sort of concept. The Queen is the Queen and that is all there is to it. She doesn't have to like us, we don't have to like her, she just has to command, we just have to obey."

"I see." Ainz said, he looked behind him, Yuri Alpha, Tuare, and Gondo all wore neutral masks that said enough about their disapproval of what Haldon had just said.

"Why don't you tell me more about your people?" Ainz asked as they made their way out into the city, sensing a change of topic was in order.

"As you wish, your majesty." Treiaa said politely, "We've lived under the mountain here for several thousand years, most who live here, also die here. We are born, we work, we pass away to be replaced by the next generation. Our people are long lived compared to humans, but if you look at the memory wall for almost any dwarf, it reads the same. He was born, he lived, he worked, he died. A few do get an extra sentence. For example, centuries ago an Outrider ventured far beyond our range and brought us warnings about the coming of the six gods of the Theocracy. His marker says, "He served well".

"Are you all... happy living this way?" Gondo asked. He looked around as they left the palace, "I mean you all don't seem happy, it looks like your lives are just a death march, if you'll pardon my saying it."

Minister Bicci looked surprised, "What other way is there? Outside the mountain, it is dangerous beyond words, we send out our Outriders to deal with the dark elves, a few merchants go north to trade with some human villages and border towns, but when dwarves leave the mountain for any length of time, bad things happen. We are safe in the Understone Empire, keeping the world out is how we survived when so many others perished." His voice was somewhat defensive as he answered the northern dwarf.

"Is that all you want?" Tuare asked sadly. Her voice was like that of a willow tree that had been given the power of speech, it carried in it an unmistakable sound of sadness, one that struck the three escorts sharply.

"What do you mean?" Treiaa asked.

"Oh, never mind, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken..." Tuare said, her voice became flustered and uncertain, a deep blush appeared on her face.

"No, continue, Tuare. Speak your mind." Ainz said with gentle encouragement.

"Master dwarf, ah, priest Treiaa, I was born in Re-Estize, that human kingdom in the north, when I was, well... years ago, a noble took me to...well he used me as a play thing, then sold me off for less than the cost of a bottle of wine, I ended up in... well in an even worse place. At first I just wanted to live another day, then all I could wish for was a painless death, but I wasn't granted that mercy. Instead, I was tossed out like a ragged doll. But fate had something else in store for me and I was rescued, and everybody who hurt me died very painful deaths. He saved me." She said softly, pointing tenderly to the Sorcerer King, "He let me live in his home and work as a maid beside the servant of his who became my husband. At first, well, all I wanted was to be safe, and I was safe serving this king."

Her face, so serious and grave as she spoke, took on a cracked little smile, "I never wanted to leave there, and... it has been some years since then. It is home to me now, and I want to spend my life in the service of the ones who saved me when humans had abandoned me. They're my family, even the scary ones... the truth is, this is one of the first times I've left their walls in a long time. But as I think about it, I see that is wrong. I don't want to be afraid of the rest of the world. There are places my king rules that are... I'm told, amazing to see. I want to see them."

Her smile grew a little wider as she went on, "Even now, I'm seeing things that amaze me." Her arms went out as if to embrace the Understone Empire, "This... is amazing, such craftsmanship, such skill, all hidden away where nobody from outside can see it, and yet here I am looking at it all, and if I'd stayed behind as my lord would have allowed, I'd have never known any of you were here. As you talk about the things you do about safety, I wonder what the point of it all is, if you're not really living? I'll carry with me the memory of this place for the rest of my life, and never regret having come away from my home to see it... but I know there is even more out there, so much MORE..." As she spoke further and further, her voice grew in passion as she looked at the trio with equal parts passion and sorrow, "Yet it seems to me you'll miss everything, even though you don't have to."

Her gaze fell, "That-that is what I think anyway. Sure, the world is scary sometimes, but it is also beautiful and amazing, and looking around now at things that I've never seen before, I want to see more of it. I don't want to hide, I want to live, not just exist until I die."

The entire group fell quiet as they walked, the noise of the city covered the sound of their steps, and their escorts looked at one another. After a few minutes, Minister Bicci looked over at the Sorcerer King. "Is she a priestess or something? Never heard a commoner talk like that. "

He shook his head, "Just one of my maids, it is as she says, one of my men rescued her, she was taken again, and I had her saved and made sure her abusers suffered for their mistake. She has quite accurately summarized her life thus far, and she is right, this city is... very impressive. But, forgive me for saying, your people seem generally unhappy. We noticed it on the way in. Is there some disaster that has brought down your moods?"

The reeve shrugged, "No, nothing like that, I mean there is a rebellion among the slaves and all, but this is the norm for us, the mountain requires our devotion."

"How do you mean?" Ainz asked.

"Our god is our mountain, our mountain is our god." Treiaa intoned. "He gives to us our crystals and feeds to us the mana that gives our mages power. It is part of why we seldom leave."

"What are these crystals?" Ainz asked curiously.

Bicci looked at Haldon with a warning on his face, but if Haldon cared or noticed, he didn't show it. "A question for a question, Highness, if you'll indulge me."

"A fair exchange. Ask your question." Ainz replied sincerely.

"Can others acquire the same magic that you have?" He asked with zeal in his voice.

"That I cannot answer. How can anyone say what the upper limits of an individual's potential are? It was once said that fifth tier was as high as a human could go, yet Fluder, one of my students now, achieved the sixth tier many years ago, and in my service, some time ago with a little help from some items and a great deal of preparation, managed a minor seventh tier spell. He may reach even greater heights, or this may be the limit of his life. That may not be the answer you wanted to hear, but there it is." Ainz said, quietly marking down the 'vulnerable spot' in Haldon's character.

The dwarf's face was crestfallen as he listened, but when he learned that someone learning under the Sorcerer King had achieved a seventh tier spell, his eyes went wide and shone like stars... he looked covetously at the Sorcerer King.

"Got him." Ainz thought with satisfaction.

"Of course," Ainz added with a note of caution, "He remained in my home for years, studying in my library and learning under one of my eighth tier casters as well, he required substantial investment in time and resources to achieve that end. It is not a path most are ever willing to walk." Ainz said casually, "Only those in my service who are most dedicated to the path of magic, gain access to that part of the library, or the kind of time I will have spent on them."

His voice was casual and dismissive, as if giving unimportant details about a subordinate, but it fed into Haldon's character straight to his core, giving another piece of information that the dwarf deeply internalized.

"To serve me, is to gain everything." Is what Haldon heard.

"Now, my turn, what are these crystals?" Ainz asked.

"They're basically mana rocks." Haldon said without even a hint of hesitation. "God gives them to us through the stone somehow, we dig them out, and they allow us to replenish mana almost instantly, giving our mages the power that lets them create Magicine prosthetics and use all manner of spells, most still never make it beyond the third tier, a few gifted ones get to the fifth, as I have, but as long as we have these mana stones, we won't run out of the ability to cast our spells."

Ainz was grateful for his emotional suppression in that instance, and for his skeletal face, because in concert they hid his reaction. Such things would greatly strengthen Nazarick.

"I see. I've never seen these elsewhere. Tell me, do you not trade them beyond the mountain?" Ainz asked.

Haldon shook his head, "Absolutely not, your majesty, they're carefully hoarded and stored in the five great cities."

"I see." Ainz said. "First thing I'll fix," The Sorcerer King thought to himself.

"There is nothing you would trade them for?" Ainz asked.

Haldon's face revealed some frustration, "Speaking for myself your majesty, I would trade some for books. I know there is knowledge out in the world we could use..."

"Haven't you said enough on that subject, Haldon?" Biccis said.

"Oh, come off it, Bicci." Haldon said with annoyance, "You've talked to the Outriders too, things ARE changing out there, when was the last time a slave shipment came in that had more than ten in it? Twenty years ago we could get a thousand pairs of hands for the price of a basket of adamantite ore. Now getting ten pairs of hands is hard, and the army is having to kill the ones still here. We have to look outside, do things differently, or it may come knocking on our door and leave us no way to deal with it."

Ainz got the distinct impression that this was not a new conversation between the two of them, and from the way Treiaa sighed, it was not one he was unfamiliar with. "May I show you all something?" Ainz asked.

"What is that, Your Majesty?" Treiaa asked uncertainly.

"The world outside here." Ainz said. "I will use a ninth tier spell, a gate will appear, and when we pass through it, we will be elsewhere, I know you intended to show me your world, and for that I am grateful, but if we are going to understand one another, I should return the favor."

Curiosity was written large on their bearded faces. "At the end, as a reward for indulging me, I will provide you with some small gifts, tokens of appreciation for going along with my royal eccentricities." Ainz said, and he saw their eyes widen ever so slightly in the universal indicator of barely concealed avarice.

"Show us." Haldon said, speaking for the other two.

A moment later, a hole opened in front of them, and Ainz stepped through, followed by the rest of them.

When they reached the other side, Ainz gestured around him. "Welcome to E-Rantel. The first city of my kingdom."

The dwarves said nothing, Ainz didn't need an explanation, he saw their faces reflected in the glass of a nearby shop as they gawked around. A death knight lumbered to the center of a city street and simply stood there while people crossed, then moved aside and resumed its patrol. If the others did not recognize it, Haldon clearly did, but the other two did not fail to recognize the passing orcs, goblins, elves, ogres, humans, and others.

"All races share space within my city, vampires do not prey on humans, orcs and bafolk do not slay and enslave one another, goblins do not ambush travelers on the road. Come, follow me." He said, and started walking.

With nothing else to do, no other option, the three tour guides became tourists, following behind the Sorcerer King. A dragon passed overhead, and the three dwarves instinctively covered their heads and ducked down even lower. "There is no need to fear, he's a mail carrier most likely." Ainz said casually, "Probably not one of the ones who handle combat, he's much too small, the war class dragons are much bigger."

They remained silent as he walked on. A frost giant crossed a four way street a dozen yards ahead, coming in the Sorcerer King's direction, it was carrying a large pack on its back, and followed behind by a few dwarves.

"Is he one of your slaves?" Bicci asked, pointing to the giant, his voice carried a sense of awe.

Ainz stopped walking and turned to him, "Slaves? I have no slaves. Slavery is, forgive me, very stupid in my eyes."

"I don't... then how do you get anything done? Is it all magic?" Bicci asked.

Ainz let out a low and indulgent laugh, as one might give to a child who has asked an ignorant question.

"Tell me minister Bicci, what is slavery?"

"What do you mean, your majesty?" He asked in confusion.

"Strip away all the nonsense, and slavery is a management tool, it is how you get a lot of strong backs together to do a job, right?" Ainz asked.

"Yes..." the dwarf answered hesitantly, getting the distinct impression he was verbally walking into a trap.

"But all those strong backs hate the work, don't they? They hate you, they hate the work, and they want nothing more than to stop, don't they?" He asked.

"I suppose." Bicci said honestly.

"Not very efficient when you put it that way, is it?" Ainz asked, using a word he'd heard them apply several times already as he 'sold' his ideas to the pragmatic dark dwarf minister.

"But it's the only way to..." The dwarf trailed off, as the frost giant and the dwarves drew closer.

"Excuse me." Ainz said to the dwarves and the frost giant, his voice the very soul of courtesy as they realized just who they were approaching, and knelt on the sidewalk immediately.

"Rise." Ainz said, "But if you would, before you go, tell me what you're doing." He addressed the little group.

"Ah, Your Majesty, my name is Xam, and this big fellow behind me, well his name is Muscles, I know, obvious right?" He grinned and continued, "That pack has a bunch of tools in it that we're taking to work on expanding the dwarf research and market district."

"I see, and did you force Muscles to work for you?" Ainz asked.

The dwarf looked offended. "Never your majesty, Muscles gets paid two silvers a day, with a bonus of twenty five coppers for every delivery or every extra pound over the minimum."

Ainz looked up at 'Muscles', "Well named, aren't you?" His voice carried a note of humor that the frost giant appreciated.

"Yuh huh." He said.

"Well paid?" Ainz asked.

"Yuh huh." He replied.

"Do you enjoy your work." Ainz asked.

"Yuh huh." He replied again with a very happy expression on his face.

"Do you plan to quit anytime soon?" Ainz asked.

The frost giant thought it over, "No. They pay well, I have a good home, my son is happy at his school, if someone offers more, I may take it." The giant looked down sardonically at the dwarves, "However, I like working for them, no hunger, no fear, no dragon raids, we live good."

"Thank you," Ainz said, "take this for your trouble." He added, and took out several gold coins and handed one to each dwarf and one to the giant.

The enormous hand closed over it, "My family will drink to you tonight your highness." The frost giant said.

"Ours too!" The dwarves had enormous grins on their faces, as they all bowed and moved on.

"Could you have enslaved that one?" He asked.

When they were gone, Ainz looked at the stunned dark dwarf minister. "All the frost giants of the mountain range to the north of here, are now under my rule, how many could you force to work for you?" He asked. "One? Ten? One hundred? How much danger would you be in, trying to force any number of them to work against their will?"

Bicci swallowed hard.

"Yet the work is done. He is happy, the dwarves are happy, they are all working hard because they gain from it." Ainz said as he gestured to the diminishing figures leaving them behind.

"For a slave, his tools are his enemies. He hates his master and he hates his tools and he hates his work. He wants only to drain your resources as much as possible before he dies, and that is if you're lucky, if you're unlucky, he wants to kill you, and may just try to do it, and if you're really unlucky, he will succeed, and all you'll have bought for yourselves is an unpleasant death." Ainz said bluntly.

"My management tool is different, it is self interest. They serve me so they can gain good lives. Every demihuman, heteromorph, human, and whatever else they may be, is able to benefit by working for the good of their neighbors. They trade with one another, and each contributes to the betterment of the whole. It is a much better system." Ainz concluded.

"But the cost of yours is much higher, isn't it?" Bicci asked. "They were paying that giant for his labor. I buy a slave, maybe he doesn't do the best work, but the work gets done and I don't have to keep spending money on him."

"Perhaps not, but then what?" Ainz asked.

"I don't understand." Bicci said.

"You buy a slave, but you pay him nothing, that means he buys nothing, he's taking up resources to stay alive and keep working, but he's not generating any economic activity, that means nobody else benefits from him being there." Ainz said patiently.

"When they pay that frost giant, he goes out and buys food from a vendor, beer from a bar, he buys toys for his children, he pays taxes that pay for school for his children, he spends money on things that make him happy and his family prosperous. When he spends that money, he creates 'demand' for goods and services that others in the community gain by providing to him, that means they hire more workers, buy more supplies, which in turn grants even more opportunities for others to gain by doing the same thing." Ainz explained patiently.

"Your one time expense of a slave brings down the overall wealth of your entire community. At best you stagnate, but more often, it becomes a downward spiral, you can't sell anything to anyone if nobody has any money, but you can sell a lot to many if everybody's wealth increases." Ainz said, "See for yourself." He gestured around him.

"How many businesses could survive here, if there was only a handful of people who had any money to spend?" Ainz asked.

Bicci's face was thoughtful.

"Got him. Never make a moral argument with a pragmatist." He thought to himself, remembering a particularly tough client he'd won over many years before.

Bicci was silent, but Ainz could see the change of expression on his face.

"You're dealing with a rebellion now, aren't you?" Ainz asked. "What is the cost of that? How many of your people will you lose putting it down, if you can even put it down? Would you sleep with a poisonous snake? Probably not, but by using slaves, you do that every day. Rebellion was inevitable, your victory is not, and you can't afford to lose even once. You've made yourself dependent on people who hate you, and now you have no more coming as my nation is increasingly surrounding your own, and we will not be permitting the trade in bondage inside our borders."

Bicci might not have been saying anything verbally, but his face said plenty.

"Now to go in for the kill." Ainz thought, glad he didn't have to worry about a poker face anymore.

"I realize you have always done things this way, but will you continue to mine a shaft that has run dry, just because it used to yield much in the distant past? The times are changing around your mountain, and if you do not change with them by choice, change will be forced on you even without the rest of the world doing anything, what will you do then? How will you survive? I admit that like Tuare, I am impressed by your workmanship, you are artisans of the highest caliber. Your cousins, I am sure Gondo would agree, have nothing on you in that respect." Ainz looked back, and Gondo nodded fervently.

"Agreed." Gondo said.

"I wouldn't wish to see your people suffer because of self inflicted wounds." Ainz said, while quietly thinking, "A little praise to water the clay..."

"You see a better tool around you now, one that does not have the risks of your own system, which I understand has already turned against you, and which you will not long be able to maintain." Ainz said, "Accept good relations with me, and I can provide perfect labor that will never rebel, pose no threat to you, and which will definitely increase yields in every avenue you apply them to."

Bicci looked at the ground, and his eyes widened when he realized he was looking at enchanted roads.

"Come, let's walk some more." Ainz said, and moved on, allowing a now silent interior minister to turn over in his head everything that he'd heard.

They walked the streets of E-Rantel, until Treiaa pointed to two buildings. "What are those, Your Majesty?" He asked. "They look like temples but... they're very different."

Ainz looked at where the dwarf was pointing.

"Oh, that one on the left is a temple to the god of water, one of the six great gods of old, the one next to it is the temple to Black Justice, the religion that worships me as god, I believe that one is dedicated to me as the god of justice, the one in the demihuman district is dedicated to me as the god of strength." He said casually.

"Say what now?" Treiaa asked in disbelief. "Forgive me, Majesty, I don't think I heard you properly."

"Which?" Ainz asked.

"You said that one is dedicated to the six. I've heard of those. Merchants I've spoken with have talked about the six gods of humanity as something a lot of people follow, I think the Slane Theocracy follows them. But you said that one next to it, the one of black stone with the big red door... is dedicated to... you?" He asked softly.

"Yes, you heard correctly." Ainz said casually. "One of my first human followers began the faith some time ago, it is why the Slane Theocracy chose to pursue the path of war, the priests in Arwintar called for a Synod of the world's temples to answer the question of my divinity, am I a god, or am I not? The Slane Theocracy's view of the undead being what it is, they are fervently opposed to that idea and chose to pursue a war in hopes of forcing temples in other countries to vote their way when the gathering occurs, or to prove me not to be a god by defeating me." Ainz replied.

"They are... not having any luck in either regard." Ainz said bluntly.

"But... but... are you a god?" Treiaa asked softly.

Ainz carefully thought through everything Treiaa had said as he considered the best way to approach him on the matter.

"Tell me, priest, what is a god?" Ainz asked.

"A god is he who provides for his people." He replied.

"Is your queen a goddess then?" Ainz asked.

"No." He said with absolute finality, a tone Ainz didn't miss. "He doesn't like her." Ainz thought, making a mental note of that.

"Why not? Does she not provide for her people?" Ainz asked.

"She is only a mortal, she will die, her power is not vastly greater than our own. She's just a person in a position to do things." Treiaa replied.

Ainz noticed that he did not say that she actually ever DID anything, only that she was in a 'position' to do things.

"I am immortal, I will not die, I provide for my people, and my power vastly exceeds anything ever shown by the six gods of humanity, therefore by your definition, am I a god?" Ainz asked rhetorically.

Treiaa had a flustered look on his face and his comrades looked at him with great interest.

"Come, lets walk into my temple, we can continue to speak along the way." Ainz said.

As he diverted the group, Treiaa answered, "Well, our mountain is a god, it is immortal, it provides for us, and it is more powerful than we are."

Ainz paused to laugh.

"Let me show you something." Ainz said, "Before we go into the temple."

"What, my lord?" Treiaa asked uncertainly.

"Have you ever seen a mountain walk?" Ainz asked.

**AN: Almost to the end. :) **


	8. The Carrot, the Stick, & the Golem

The dwarves stopped dead in their tracks.

"Majesty?" They said together.

"It should be passing by this city shortly." Ainz said offhandedly. "Come with me." He said before casting [Mass Fly] on the entire group. They rose into the air, with Treiaa and Bicci flailing about and trying to pull themselves back down to the ground, while Haldon laughed and spread his arms out, and kicked his feet around as if he were dancing.

Tuare had a childish smile on her face, but darted her hands out to her dress in embarrassment with a deep red blush as she gradually floated higher.

Gondo grinned in amusement, watching the Sorcerer King break the world was now routine for him. Yuri Alpha remained implacable to the point where she was almost indifferent.

"Be at ease, no harm will come to you, simply will your body in the direction you wish to go, now follow me." He said, and he flew in the direction of the wall. With no help for it, the trio followed the Sorcerer King and his party, looking down on the bustling city below them. It was not lost on either Bicci or Treiaa that the city looked both happier and more prosperous than their own, without having had any of the risks that their own people seemed to think were required to survive.

Soon, they reached the wall and descended just behind the crenelations.

"Sire, what are we to see?" Treiaa asked, "You said a mountain but..."

His voice trailed off, Bicci's mouth was open as wide as it could be, and Haldon clapped his hands together as if in prayer.

There in the distance, growing steadily larger, was a moving mountain.

Gargantua's massive legs were eating up ground as it came ever closer to E-Rantel.

"It's... where is it going?" Haldon asked softly. "Here?"

"No." Ainz said, "It is going to the southernmost part of the Re-Estize Kingdom. To your mountain."

"Our... OUR mountain?" Treiaa said in terror. "Why... what is it going to do there?" His voice became very high pitched... for a dwarf.

"You are aware I am fighting a war." Ainz said rhetorically.

"Yes..." Treiaa said.

"Re-Estize is almost completely on my side again. Their army, when prepared, along with those of my allies, were going to march South, and your mountain is in the way. I was thinking of removing part of it." He said bluntly.

Their faces turned almost as pale as Gondo's.

"Two of my guardians have gone amongst the Dark Elves to win them to my will. I do not doubt they will succeed and I fully expect that they will completely submit, without any meaningful force being necessary. That leaves only your people." Ainz said in a voice that was uncommonly gentle, given what the words he was conveying would mean for them.

"I assure you, Gargantua there," he said as he gestured to the now enormous golem, "Can easily smash his way right through. Your mountain there is about thirty miles wide. My estimate is that, unopposed, he can smash his way from one end to the other in one week. If he is opposed, that estimate changes by no more than one day." Ainz said, looking over at the massive giant.

"No..." Bicci said, whether a plea or denial, even he didn't know.

"We've done nothing to you... why?" Treiaa asked softly.

"I said 'were'." Ainz replied, holding up one finger conditionally.

"Were?" Bicci asked.

"Yes." Ainz said, "My allies 'were' going to march South, and I 'was' thinking of removing part of it." Ainz reminded him.

"Since dispatching it however, I had my scouts observe and learn that you resided in those mountains, and that you had a great civilization there, and having been within it, the artistry involved in the creation of your civilization is not something I wish to see vanish from the world." He replied.

The trio visibly relaxed.

"You called your mountain a god." Ainz said, looking over at Treiaa.

"If I can command your god to be flattened to make a road for my armies and my merchants, what does that make me?" He asked.

The pale expressions of the pragmatic dwarves did not recover, nor did they answer, nor did they even look at him, they were transfixed by the massive golem that was now walking past the city, close enough that they could see it, almost touch it, if they had longer arms.

Their gazes followed it as it lumbered past.

"Please... don't." Haldor said softly. "So many of our people live where it is going, if it breaks down the mountain, it will kill them... we've never done anything to hurt you or your people..."

In his heart's ledger, Ainz marked him up a notch above Fluder Paradyne, who had no loyalty to anything but his zeal for magic and those who could advance his skill in it.

"Are you sure about that?" Ainz asked. They looked at him uncertainly.

"Now, back to the temple." He added. "Mass teleportation." He said, and they vanished from the wall and reappeared in front of the black stone temple.

He began to walk up the steps, leaving them no choice but to follow him, the door opened as he approached, and they found themselves in a building that their finest artisans would have praised. Intricate carvings were etched over the walls, which told the story of a war they had heard only rumors of before, holed up in their mountains. The center of the floor was carpeted, and along either side sat long benches. Up near the front there were, oddly enough, two podiums.

"What are those?" Treiaa asked curiously, trying desperately to distract himself from his own thoughts.

"Those are podiums, the old gods' religion had a single priest who spoke and commanded all, I do not." Ainz said.

"You have two priests?" Treiaa asked curiously, "What for?"

Ainz laughed. "No, though sometimes two appear there, rather my priests do not command, they reason, and those who attend, are welcome to take to the opposing podium to argue against the priest, or to challenge one another. Games of rhetoric are prized, because argument promotes thought, and reasoned argument finds right answers more than ignorant dogmatism. Anyone can let someone else do the thinking for them, but such people tend to be poor problem solvers."

"All acts of kindness, all acts of reason, and all ways of just happiness, are the means by which I am worshipped. In my faith, reflection, reason, and self conquest are the pinnacle of service." Ainz replied, leaving Treiaa silent.

Hearing the talk from within the main hall, the priest emerged from a room to the rear, this one an elf, who seeing her god within her temple, immediately knelt.

"Your Majesty, you honor me to visit this temple." She said with her head lowered.

"Your temple honors me by its order and its cleanliness. It is tended to with love and devotion, and I am glad to see it." Ainz said magnanimously, "You may rise."

She stood, but gazed at him, or one might say 'mooned' at him with her eyes, like a lovesick girl. "Thank you, Your Highness, it is my pleasure to serve."

"But, who are those who have come with you?" She asked curiously.

"Gondo, head of runecraft research, Tuare and Yuri Alpha, my maids, and then these are Treiaa, Bicci, and Haldor of the Understone Empire." Ainz said, and the dwarves bowed politely.

"Are you converting?" She asked the trio.

"Ah... visiting. Just visiting." Treiaa spoke for them all, "Your king was showing us a part of his kingdom, I saw this temple, and I was... ah... curious. I've heard he's worshipped in different aspects, but I don't quite know what that means." He said, his scholar's blood pumping in his veins and his priestly heart pounding in his chest.

"I worship him as the god of justice, because justice is what I value most, much like our pope, Neia Baraja. However, everyone sees him in a different way. The demihumans tend to see him as a martial god, of strength or war or strategy..."

"To me, he is the god of knowledge." Gondo interjected, and the priestess nodded politely at his words.

"The divine you see, has many aspects, it is that which excels beyond all other things, and it is what we 'aspire' to be at our best, so when I say that he is the god of justice, I speak of my admiration and my ASPIRATION, to always do and be and follow the highest form of justice that I can. To do this, I purge weaknesses from myself that inhibit my ability to serve in that pursuit." She said as she engaged the dwarven priest.

"Weakness?" Treiaa asked. "How do you mean?"

"Weakness comes in many forms, the temptation to lie or steal is greater in some than in others, and some are physically stronger than their companions, but whatever form weakness takes, it becomes an impediment to personal excellence, it reflects a failure in our character, some failures we can overcome, and some are lifelong challenges that are never fully won, but it is the act of combating ourselves, conquering ourselves, that gives us ever greater power and draws us ever closer to the divine." She said gently.

"You have an... interesting religion." Treiaa responded. "Is it justice to destroy another person's home out of personal convenience?" He asked archly.

The priestess looked at the dwarf with an interested expression on her face. "That is an unusual question." She said.

"And your answer?" He asked.

She thought for a moment, tapping her cheek as she looked up at the ceiling. Then she turned around and walked to a small table, she took up a box and returned in front of the dwarf. She held the box at eye level with him and said to him, "This box is sealed up. Suppose you were poisoned, and this box held the medicine you needed to survive. The box belongs to me. Will you destroy it to save yourself?" She asked.

"Of course." He said.

"Is it just to do that? After all, I didn't poison you, the box is my property, so is it fair to destroy what is mine to help only yourself?" She asked.

He didn't respond.

"Suppose the door was locked, and this box was hidden somewhere within this building, would you destroy the entire place to find it and take what you required? What if it was not for you, but it was for someone else?" She asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go straight to destroying it." The dark dwarf priest replied, "I'd try to talk to you first, I'd ask if I could have the medicine peacefully, or I'd try to buy it from you, or trade it, I'd use every honest measure I could." He said.

"And then?" She asked. "If I refused, perhaps because it was inconvenient to me, perhaps I was hoarding the medicine, perhaps I just don't care what you want and I'm spiteful?"

"Then... yes... whatever force is needed, I guess." Treiaa replied softly, his shoulders slumping at the answer.

"I think you're not asking me about this destruction of a home for nothing, I've heard where you live, I heard which way Gargantua is going, I don't have to be all that smart to figure out that your question pertains to your host." She said, gesturing to the Sorcerer King.

"Now tell me, when fighting a war, a war where His Majesty's decisions will save or cost perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives, where his people, the people he cherishes and loves as if they were his children... how is that any different than you wanting into that box?" She asked gently.

"I don't..." He started to say, and stopped.

"I was a slave once, before the Pope rescued me, she tore me out of Wenmark, dragged me to safety with her own hands, my life was stolen from me because it was convenient for the ones who stole me away, to use me and discard me, and yet here I am. Doing what she did required that she face great risk, and yes, that she destroy much, but those who she destroyed, they wouldn't change. Perhaps they couldn't." The priestess knelt so that she was at eye level with Treiaa.

"Their failure to respond to change destroyed them, their failure to appreciate the lives of anyone else other than their own destroyed them, their smug sense of invincibility destroyed them. Perhaps it could be said that they were destroyed because they couldn't imagine anything going wrong for themselves. They never reflected on their choices, and they created a condition where the only way anything could get better for far too many people, was for them to be destroyed." The priestess's voice was filled with sympathy as she spoke to her dwarven counterpart.

"I am sure you ask because you see a threat to your way of life, but as you are with His Majesty now, I promise you this... he is not doing this to torture you, but to give you a CHANCE."

"If the Sorcerer King was inclined to simply destroy you, you would never know it was him that killed you. I spent some time in the eastern region of what was Forton, a city in the Draconic Kingdom before it was overrun, I lived with some of the refugees there before I made my way back here. The Sorcerer King used magic that by himself, repeatedly destroyed entire populations of entire cities, when he walked into the Beastman Kingdom, he walked out as the arbiter of its fate, with no army but himself and one single attendant. If he wanted to kill you all, you would already be dead." The priestess said with absolute certainty.

She smirked, "A dragon lord visited me awhile back, you know what he told me his nation's policy was going to be?"

"What?" Bicci interjected.

"Trade with the Sorcerer King, and don't piss him off." She said, and laughed lightly.

"Wise policy." Gondo said with a firm nod of his head.

Treiaa looked at the Sorcerer King.

"May we sit?" He asked humbly.

"Thank you... priestess." The dark dwarf said, much humbled, "I have a... lot to think about."

The Sorcerer King gestured to the benches.

"Got him." He thought with satisfaction.

They sat, the Sorcerer King faced the trio, and Bicci took the lead. "What exactly do you want, Your Highness?" He asked bluntly.

"You are direct." Ainz responded.

"As you said earlier Your Highness, we should not begin by lying to one another." Bicci replied sincerely.

"To the matter at hand then." Ainz said.

"I want my army to pass through that part of the mountain, I want to open trade, I want an end to closed borders, and I want an end to your slave practices." Ainz said firmly.

The three looked at one another and sighed heavily.

"You ask a lot." Minister Bicci said unhappily.

"Not as much as you think." Ainz said, "You know what happened with your northern cousins, their near extinction?"

"Yes." Treiaa said.

"You are currently on that path. I listen to what goes on around me, and I look with care at my surroundings, it was not hard to notice that your capital city's guard was very light, a very unlikely thing for a people who are inherently isolationist and defensive, so where did they go? The rebellion, am I wrong?" He asked.

They looked down. "It is very large now, isn't it?" He said.

They nodded.

"How large?" He asked.

They said nothing.

"The truth." He said firmly.

"One of the great five cities has fallen... it fell the day you arrived." Bicci said fearfully.

"You mentioned those mana stones, the crystals. How much of your supply was there?" Ainz asked.

"Thirty percent of them." Reeve Haldor said, "It was also a major mining area for them, and is close to two others, from there, they can strike in any direction of the Understone Empire. It's a serious threat and our entire army is mobilized or mobilizing to deal with it."

"What if I took away that problem?" Ainz asked.

"What? Wiped them out?" Bicci asked.

"No, took them away, I have considerable lands that are unoccupied, they could go to the Abelion Hills, they could go to the border region near the Beastman Kingdom, they can settle in various unoccupied lands of my vassal states, they won't trouble you anymore." Ainz said reasonably.

"Then who will do the work?" Bicci asked.

"I will lease you undead labor through my temples, temples like these are the focal points of my labor operations. In return for trade considerations, such as those crystals, you will have all the labor that you need."

"And we just have to let you destroy two cities along the way?" Treiaa asked, somewhat unhappily.

"What if I solved that problem as well?"Ainz asked.

"How?" Haldor asked in return.

"Your cousins in the north have a very small population, the mountains there are still very rich with natural resources, and it would be millennia at best before they had enough people to reoccupy them again. Suppose I 'gave' all those who live in those two cities, two cities in the north, ready made for occupation and rich with all new opportunities. To go one step further, I will even offer to assist with transport of resources there to the Understone Empire to further augment your kingdom." He said generously.

They were frozen.

That was the only word for it.

"In short, I relocate anyone affected by this action, provide all the labor that you need, take away the entire threat that is overrunning your empire faster than you can deal with it, facilitate trade between the old and new locations, guarantee you will not be harmed, and open every border up to you so that you need no longer fear the outside world." He said generously.

"How do we know that you will do what you say?" Treiaa asked hesitantly.

Behind him, Yuri, Tuare, and Gondo looked enraged at the question.

"Because I said I would." Ainz said flatly, "I will be swearing it on my name and putting it in writing as a treaty between our kingdoms."

"I remind you, the mere fact that I am offering all of this, should tell you that I intend to carry it all out, you saw Gargantua. Do I actually 'need' to offer anything at all to you?" Ainz asked pointedly.

"If I wished to destroy the way through... and let him spend the next two years leveling the entire Understone Empire, then I could do that, nor do I even need to go that far, with a single spell of my highest tier, I could send death from one end to the other without ever stepping more than one foot inside your halls." Ainz said firmly.

"Instead, I offer you a place in the world in return for a pittance by comparison, save for that which benefits all of us." The Sorcerer King declared.

Treiaa and Haldor looked to Minister Bicci, who looked like he had just found out there was a worm in an apple, by finding the other half of the worm still in it.

"What say you?" Ainz asked him.

"I can say nothing." He said with his head lowered. "All power falls to the Queen and... you have concluded how she feels."

"She wants to feed the slaves to god's guts in the chasm and draw enough power to obliterate them in one battle, and you heard what she said about the mountain... even if she saw... what did you call it? 'Gargantua'? I don't think she would budge." He said in a voice that suggested he thought he was already dead.

"What does that mean, feed them to god's guts in the chasm?" He asked.

"None of us really knows for sure." Reeve Haldor said with a voice of some frustration. "When slaves die, one way or another, their bodies are disposed of down a deep chasm, nobody has ever come from down below, and nobody going down below has ever come back up. All we know for sure is that whenever bodies end up down there, mana is radiated to us and our crystal harvest increases, the more that go down there in a year, the more we get in return."

"We priests have always said that we are 'feeding god' to keep the mountain pleased with us, but having glimpsed a shadow of your power, and seen my comrade respond to your display back at the palace..." Treiaa said, then glanced at Haldor, "I can only conclude that your power exceeds that of what we thought was a god, so now I have my doubts about it all."

"I see, I will have to send an expedition down there to find out what it is that causes this, at a guess, tectonic shifts create magma paths that lodge crystals into your mining paths and whatever exudes the mana is also producing those crystals as a byproduct, possibly some kind of particularly dangerous magic beast." Ainz said offhanded.

"What do those words mean?" Bicci asked curiously.

"Oh, in the first world I visited, geologic shifts resulted in the formation of mountains and the deposit of minerals in various locations, these cycles constantly renewed the stone and the changing conditions resulted in the formation of more..." He sighed as Bicci looked lost, "Never mind, assuming we can settle all this, I will let a few of your mining experts study the subject, I think it will serve your operations very well, suffice it to say I have accessible to me, vast knowledge, knowledge that might seem like magic, but is not, which allow the learned figure to deeply understand and predict the course of nature around him and manipulate it to his benefit to a great degree. This too I will share, if your people bow to my will." Ainz said sincerely.

Haldor looked incredibly excited at the prospect, but Treiaa and Bicci's expressions were lost and depressed, "She simply won't do it, Your Majesty." Bicci repeated.

"The Queen is..." He paused.

"The Queen is a damned idiot." Treiaa finished bluntly.

"Of the highest caliber." Haldor added with frustration.

"Clearly you've never met Philip." Ainz thought sarcastically.

"Why is she Queen? How does this work among your people?" Ainz asked. "Did she inherit the throne?"

"Sort of." Treiaa said and scratched his head uncomfortably. "Her father and her brothers all died in an accident, she was never supposed to rule. The only reason she's in charge at all is that there is nobody left of the royal family."

"I see. What happens when there is no royal family?" Ainz asked.

"We don't know, it's never happened before. The same family has been in charge for as long as our recorded history." Bicci replied.

"I see." Ainz said thoughtfully, "I take it you don't particularly care to see your recorded history end, just to keep her on the throne either."

There were three shaking heads in front of him.

"She doesn't seem particularly popular. I don't wish to insult your people, but... they all seemed very unhappy, compared to my own that is." Ainz said.

"Or mine." Gondo added fervently, "We drink for happiness, you all seem to drink to numb yourself to your continued existence, frankly I envy anyone in those two cities who gets to move to our mountains."

That drew sour expressions to the three dark dwarves faces, but they didn't argue the point, the very idea of happiness was foreign to them until arriving at E-Rantel, and they couldn't deny what their cousin dwarf was saying.

"May I make a suggestion?" Gondo said.

"Please do." Ainz said invitingly.

"Why don't I take them and some... select members of their government, to my mountain, let them enjoy all the hospitality that we can offer, then after a day, see where they stand on the way their nation is run, and by whom?" Gondo had an enormous grin on his face, and Ainz almost laughed out loud.

He'd seen the way the dwarves of Gondo's home took to drinking, laughter, song, the way they fervently embraced their lives and their work, and he began to see the plan that the runecraft researcher had formed in his head.

After one day of celebration and happiness... the drudgery and misery of their lives would be impossible to return to, and they might do anything to feel good again after having experienced it once.

"What say you, gentlemen?" Ainz asked them. "Why not go spend a day with Gondo, Gargantua will not reach the mountains for several days, I will even delay actions if necessary. The festivals there are something to see, and I have no doubt that, given your long celebration, they will have an event the likes of which you've never seen before, then you can return here, and I can propose a course of action that may be acceptable to you to preserve both your tradition and your future."

"That does sound... interesting. Alright, we can gather everyone of significance in an hour with ease if you'll send us home, then we'll go see how our other halves live." Bicci suggested, his voice taking on a bold and enthusiastic note that he did not previously have.

"I'm sure it will be worth your time." Ainz said enthusiastically as the gate opened up before them.

**AN: Have you left YOUR reviews today? ;) **


	9. Beer Based Diplomacy

A few hours later, Gondo was leading one hundred odd dark dwarves into the great council chamber. The conversations were brief but enthusiastic as they traded information in their first official contact in centuries. The invasion of the quagoa, their near extermination, the rescue by the Sorcerer King, the revival of their arts, and their consistently rising standard of living. Of particular interest however was the use of undead labor, and an impromptu tour of the mines had the dark dwarves gawking at what they saw.

"The skeletons never get tired, sleep, or eat, so we keep our mining operations going every hour of every day. The only places we don't constantly run shifts is near residential areas when we're expanding our living quarters." A tunnel doctor said with satisfaction evident in his voice.

"What is the cost of this?" A dark dwarf minister asked hesitantly.

"Twenty percent of the yield increase from our starting productivity, and we pay half the shipping costs, anything over that which the Sorcerer King requires, he buys at a bulk discounted rate and he gets priority on all purchases." The commerce minister replied.

"Fair." The dark dwarf said somewhat begrudgingly.

"Yes. Why?" Bicci asked.

"Why what?" Gondo asked.

"Why is it fair?" Bicci said, "He could have taken everything from you, so, why is he giving you fair rates instead?"

A dwarf wearing the black garbs of a Black Justice priest stepped forward, "It is because," he said, "those are his edicts, he has said that contracts must be made on equal ground with a meeting of the minds."

"Contracts deemed predatory are voided by his law, with very heavy penalties for those who attempt to violate his standards. Yes, it is true he has terrifying and supreme power, but his greatest power is kingship." The dwarf black justice priest said proudly.

"Kingship?" Bicci asked.

"Yes, his greatest power is that he rules in such a way that we want no other rule but his, we all gain from his rule, he has not treated our loyalty as a right to be held out of fear, but as a prize that he has won and which he treasures. We are safer than we've ever been, wealthier than we have ever been, he is the rightful ruler, because he rules rightly." He said passionately.

"I... see." Bicci said as they walked the tunnels, as he looked around, he imagined the tunnels of the Understone Empire being worked every hour of every day, how much could be gained with an extra eight hours per day of work, how much more could his people have for themselves if they had labor that didn't have to be fed... it was a heady moment of recognition.

He traded looks with his two chief companions, and as he did so he saw the faces of the other dark dwarves on the tour.

"Amazing." Was a word he heard on regular refrain echoing off the tunnel walls. What was more, however, was the difference in the way their northern cousins carried themselves.

They carried themselves with confidence. Most of them, if not all, were smiling, they walked with a swagger that spoke of their certainty that their futures were bright ones. Not a few were singing as they worked.

Hour after hour they walked from tunnels to public areas as their northern hosts regaled them with stories about what was going on in their capital and the expanded return to lands that had once been lost to quagoa armies.

"Enough of that, now... festivities!" Gondo happily declared, and the hundred odd dark dwarves looked at him and the council in uncertainty.

That uncertainty was all wiped away when the beer started flowing like a river.

Drinking songs shook the halls as the dark dwarves were celebrated as visiting family by the council, they became local celebrities as word spread of their coming, and they got some interested looks from some very curious dwarf women who found their southern neighbors to be handsome in an exotic sort of way.

More than one couple slipped away surreptitiously, for a spot of fun, but even more joined in the festivities as they learned the dances and songs of their northern neighbors, and as it turned out, they were naturals at some of the drinking games played in the north, like they were born for them without ever having realized it before.

The evening wore on and neither the beer nor the wine seemed to be running short, but what truly stood out was the overwhelming quality of the alcohol they were being plied with.

Finally Bicci had to speak up. "How do you make this stuff?" He asked Gondo with awe.

"We don't." Gondo said, "This is an import from the Sorcerous Kingdom." He said and finished another cup.

Others of Bicci's peers were asking similar questions about life under his rule, and the answers were always the same. The best goods came from him, the safest rule was under him, there was no better end than to be ruled by his law. Even the most skeptical found it hard to doubt the constancy of the message, nor was there a lack of material evidence that they were speaking the truth.

Treiaal had never sung a song in his life, but the pretty bearded dwarf girl who tugged him away to her residence found reason to praise his voice when they were both thoroughly exhausted. He lay next to her, spent and exhausted and breathing hard.

"I've never had so much fun in my entire life." He managed to get out.

She laughed at him, "Why not, what, were you a virgin or something?" She asked with a laugh.

"No, it's just... for us everything... everything is about efficiency." He said, "We don't have... times like this."

"Oh?" She replied. "Why not?" She asked curiously.

"Now that I've had them, I'll tell you lass, I really don't know why not." He said.

So it was for most of them as the evening wore on and even the hardiest of dwarves hit their limits and started to pass out.

When the gate opened and the dark dwarves who functioned as the bulk of the government's high offices were assembled again, it was only with the greatest of reluctance that they bade farewell to their northern cousins and stepped, two by two, through the hole and found themselves in a large chamber in E-Rantel. They looked around as they came through, and Ainz stood at the center of a stage, there were many rows of chairs aligned in front, and he motioned for all those who passed through to claim a seat.

This they did, albeit with some hesitation, sinking comfortably into the plush leather that was far more comfortable than their unupholstered stone at home.

"You enjoyed your visit to the north, I hope." Ainz said as the last of them took their seats.

A chorus of agreement and many sighs of longing greeted his statement.

"You also know the problems that lie ahead of you?" He asked.

They nodded somberly.

"And you know I am willing to solve all that, if my conditions are met." He added.

Again they nodded, each unwilling to speak at the serious tone.

"And I trust nobody here believes their queen intends to 'do' anything to solve these problems?" He asked.

Their faces said plenty. They did not.

A few muttered insults were said, and Ainz chose to overlook them as they were all directed at the ineffectual and disinterested Shubri.

"You also however, do not wish to give up your tradition of a royal family that is as old as your known history. Well, here is the solution." He said.

They leaned forward in interest.

"Deprive her of power, but not of position. Craft a system of laws that puts rule in the hands of a council of governing officials, and make your queen's position one of ceremony and a master of keeping traditions."

"She'll never accept that." A dark dwarf said sullenly.

"So? What will she do about it?" Ainz asked.

He looked back at Ainz, opening and closing his mouth several times as he tried to think of an answer that would not come.

"Is the head of the Outriders here?" Ainz asked.

A dark dwarf wearing multiple pieces of Magicine prosthetics stood up. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"If she opposes this change that improves your kingdom, will you support her?" He asked.

Silence filled the hall.

A reluctant "No." came forth. "Her father was a... passable monarch, but she is already a monarch only in name, she does nothing, which at least means she's not doing anything terrible, but this only codifies her generally useless rule as it is." His voice went from serious to so filled with sarcasm that it made several other dark dwarves laugh.

"They call this a 'Constitutional Monarchy' in one of the worlds I visited." Ainz said. "The monarch is the symbol of the country, but they wield no power that is not diplomatic in nature." He explained.

"If you who craft the laws, who run your armies, who manage trade and labor, who actually 'do' all the work, decide that this is how it should be, then what can she, who has no power that you have not endowed her with, do about it?" He asked.

The question echoed in every brain.

"Yeah... what can she do about it?" And the answer was always the same.

"Not a stone damned thing."

"This is what I am going to do." The Sorcerer King said simply, "I am going to walk out of this room, my attendants will bring you paper and other supplies, and you have two choices. You can spend this day reforming a provisional government that will accept the terms that I have offered to your people for your future, including all of the benefits I have offered as well as those things I have asked in return."

He raised one finger pointedly. "Or..."

"You may come out behind me, I will open a gate and send you back to your home in the Understone Empire, continue to do as you have always done, change nothing, and strive your hardest to pretend there is not a mountain that is about to make a path for my army to move on my enemies. I have no wish to destroy your people, but there are no lengths I will not go to for the sake of my own. If you are my people, there are no lengths I will not go to for you. If you are not, and you are in my way, just ask your fellows who have seen Gargantua and heard what I am capable of." He said.

"The future of your empire is in your hands, treat it with care." He said.

"I yield the floor to the first of you." He said, and as he walked off the stage, Tuare and Yuri Alpha walked on to the stage and set stacks of papers and quills down for the dwarves to use, and then they followed him out deferentially with their hands folded in front of them, walking in perfect sync with one another.

When they stood outside, Ainz looked at the maids.

"Do you think they'll come out, or do you think they'll remain in there?" He asked curiously.

"They will listen." Tuare said softly.

"Your Majesty, you offered them heaven or hell, with no third option, there is no other choice for them, and no reason to resist." Yuri Alpha said with absolute confidence.

A moment later, Gondo appeared. "They've asked me to give you their answer, Your Majesty." He said.

"Yes?" He asked.

"They said they'll be very busy in there today, but they ask your indulgence in the hopes that they can have meals delivered to them so that they needn't stop working... oh, and they also asked if they can have more of that beer that was being served in my homeland." He had a satisfied expression on his face.

"Tell them I'll have food sent to them within the hour, but only enough beer for one mug each until they've settled on their provisional standards of government. When that is done, they can drink till they pass out." Ainz said.

Gondo bowed, and a moment later after the door closed behind him, muffled cheers could be heard from beyond the door.

_...Seoth'Kardia..._

"Where is everybody?" Shubri asked when she finally got out of bed and made her way out to the great hall.

"Majesty, I do not know." One of her guards said from beside her throne. "I have been here for seven hours and I haven't seen anyone but other guards and servants."

She frowned. "The Sorcerer King shows up, my ministers give him a tour, and now everybody is gone. Why do I think all these things are connected?" She asked unhappily.

"Have one of the servants go knock on a few doors. I'd like to know why they're not here." She said with uncertainty in her voice.

"As you wish your majesty, which ones?" He asked.

"All of them." She said bluntly. "And also, I want wine, and something to eat. Have a few servants cater to that as well."

"As you wish, your highness." He said as he left his post.

_...Mossyrock..._

Iontariil was satisfied. Fifty more dark dwarf overseers were dangling from ropes, and there were hundreds more to hang. His rebels had driven the dark dwarves out of the surrounding villages, and he had twenty thousand former slaves ready to attack the sister city of Forgeheart. Mossyrock and Forgeheart were two of the five great cities. The dark dwarves would not give it up without a fight, but there were far more slaves than there were dark dwarves, and he had a way to prevent that fight from being too hard.

_...Pit City..._

The first indication that things were different up in Cliffside was when the bodies started landing at the bottom. Dark Dwarf bodies. Lots of them. The slaves down at the bottom could only stand and watch in stunned disbelief as more and more just kept landing.

Thud... thud... thud. They came down one after another, some of them had nasty wounds, most of them had obviously just been tossed over. "What the hell...?" D'jan asked, he wasn't laughing, but he sure as hell was smiling.

A few hours... and a lot more bodies later... Thrall was standing in front of a large number of gathered slaves who had been drawn by word of the unexpected 'showers' coming down their way.

"I'm not much for arguments, so I'll just ask this..." Thrall said, "Who here would like to attack Seoth'Kardia?"

It took all day for the slaves to be brought up to the now very empty town of Cliffside. The fighting had clearly been fierce, the dark dwarves had killed five slaves for every one of them to fall, but when your odds are ten to one, that was an acceptable loss.

Slaves began to arm themselves with whatever weapons they could find, while there were not enough for all, many more were improvised to make up the difference. Spears, clubs, even kitchen implements were taken for use.

With the town stripped of everything useful, thousands upon thousands of slaves began the move to the capital. Thrall grimaced privately, he had very little hope of an easy fight, or even a victory, but of one thing he was sure, that by this action, Iorantiil would have sufficient odds to take Forgeheart.

The dwarves couldn't defend both.

_...Forgeheart..._

Indinos was very unhappy. Mossyrock had fallen, and he didn't have enough people to defend Forgeheart. He grabbed his head in frustration. The Queen kept insisting that he 'crush the rebellion, crush the rebellion, kill the slaves…' but it was doing no good, what was the point of orders that couldn't be followed?

Now the enemy had the crystals, the rebel slaves' few mages were able to use magic with virtual impunity and much to his frustration, because so many of his own mages were scattered about in various locations, an attack by the slaves on Forgeheart would actually have an advantage in a magic offensive.

He looked down at the map. There was nothing to be done for it. He had to evacuate the city.

He turned to one of his aides, "We can't hold the place and protect the people, we have to get them all out. Order them evacuated to Seoth'Kardia, it'll take a few days to get there, but this city won't fall overnight. If we only try to hold the inner barriers of the governing district, we can hold off a siege long enough to get the people out."

"It will be done, sir." The officer said, "What of the slaves?"

"Have them removed as well, work still needs to get done, but I don't want anyone opening any gates for Iontariil's forces." He said decisively.

_...E-Rantel..._

When Ainz returned to the hall where the nobles and officials of the Understone Empire had been working, he found it to be quite a mess. Papers lay everywhere, as did broken quills and not a few very tired looking dwarves.

He marched slowly to the stage where a dwarf stood reading over a document, as he mounted the stairs, the dwarf said in the most exhausted voice Ainz had heard since he last attended a staff meeting, "Are these terms acceptable to everyone?"

"For the love of the mountain... yes." And variations on that theme, were said by all.

"Any opposed?" The dwarf asked.

No voices were raised in opposition.

Once atop the stage, Ainz asked, "Have you reached your conclusion then?"

"Just now, Your Highness." The Dark Dwarf said as he dropped to one knee.

"There is but one additional condition that we would lay upon not only our government, but upon you." He said softly.

"Yes?" Ainz asked, while behind him Yuri Alpha retained a very careful neutral expression to hide her outrage that anyone would dare lay a condition on Lord Ainz.

"We ask for the security of vassal status for our new government as a security against these changing times. We saw too much, the world is coming whether we would have it or not, and it comes with you. We of the Understone Empire are fond of our stability and security, and as things are, we now have neither." He paused, and took a deep breath.

"Further, remove the rebel threat from our halls, and the path through the twin cities of Forgeheart and Mossyrock will be yours, and we grant you our loyalty." He glanced up to see how the Sorcerer King was taking his words, and as he did not sense hostility, he continued.

"In addition, we will accept all trade ties, on the additional consideration that we receive a gift of that marvelous beer every year in perpetuity on this date to memorialize the signing of this document and the reformation of our government. As an additional consideration for that gift, we will not only see all slaves freed in compliance with your laws, but we will set aside land to build one of your temples in each of our major cities."

He shook a little nervously, and concluded, "All other terms granted on the conditions you laid out, and to be effective immediately after we sign our official provisional 'constitution' and you ratify both written copies of the treaty."

"That is acceptable." Ainz said, "But specify how much beer. Say... enough to make every representative pass out?" He proposed offhandedly.

Even the most exhausted dwarf sat upright, and tired eyes shone in the direction of the stage.

"Aye!" They shouted in enthusiastic response to his very generous promised anniversary gift.

**AN: Almost to the end, thanks for reading so far. :) **


	10. Out with the Old

"I'm the Queen damnit! You serve ME! I AM the Understone Empire!" She snarled.

"No, your highness. You are not, you are its symbol." The high priest said gently, "He is the empire, as is she, as is he, as is she..." She looked confused when the priest pointed to a guard, then to a servant, then to two more guards and another servant...

"The Understone Empire does not exist without its people, and our people are dying, we have found a way to solve the problem forever, while you got drunk and did nothing but bark orders nobody could follow, as if to simply order the death of the rebels was enough to make it so."

"You cannot rule, and so you will not. Call it treason if you want." Minister Bicci said in a voice as hard as iron, "But whether you like it or not, this is now how things will be."

"He did this! He did this! I don't know how! But he did this! Where is that damn skeleton!" She screamed as she staggered herself back onto her throne and began to slam her fists over and over onto the arm rests.

"I knew he was trouble! I knew it! I'll..." She shouted, but before she could finish that sentence, the door opened and the Sorcerer King entered the hall.

"I would not finish that sentence if I were you." Ainz said politely.

She glared at him, but did stop speaking.

"I have done nothing." He said in response to what he was generously calling a 'tirade' instead of a 'tantrum'.

"I showed your ministers the facts of reality, nothing more." He continued, "I rather like dwarves," his voice became somewhat kind, "as a people, you're very pragmatic, northern and southern alike, whatever works best, you tend to embrace with zeal, it makes you all very easy to work with. I showed them their interests were not being well served by you. I didn't have to do anything else, they drew their own conclusions." Ainz said as he walked farther into the hall.

"You stole my empire!" She snarled out.

"No, I merely showed your government how to save it from you. " He said confidently, his regal voice echoing with the timbre of the absolute monarch.

"As part of a treaty with the new government, I will be getting rid of the problem you have with the rebels, providing replacement labor, opening up trade, and providing new lands for any and all displaced dark dwarves that result from the new roadway when it is constructed. In short, in twelve hours your ministers have guaranteed more prosperity for the Understone Empire than you have in ten years of rule."

The guards along the wall relaxed their grips on their swords.

"I am the Queen!" She shrieked and pounded on the throne.

"If you were a true Queen, you would not need to scream it." Ainz said, and stared at her, daring her to refute his words.

"How dare you!" She shrieked, "I'm part of the royal family that has ruled with absolute power for countless generations!"

"And now that power ends with you, not because of me, but because of you, because your people could not let you ruin them. If I wished to take your kingdom, I have enough power to do that by myself. But that is not my desire. If you do not believe me..."

He allowed his aura to slip, pressure began to exude from him. "This is but a fragment." He said in an almost gentle voice. She tried to stand from her throne, only to immediately collapse to her knees.

"With not even the slightest effort, you kneel to me." He said, "With nothing else, I can turn mortals into paste on the stone." He looked down at her and pointed his skeletal finger a mere inch from her face, her eyes went wide as she heard the voice of death.

"I am bound by treaty signed in my own name to defend the provisional government of the Understone Empire, ruled by these ministers, from any and all rebellion. This would include you, if it comes to it."

He cut the pressure off, and she was able to rise and return to her throne, she had utterly deflated.

She went quiet, looking down dejectedly, she looked to her left and to her right, her guards were still breathing hard from the pressure exhibited by the Sorcerer King.

She looked desperately at her guards, back and forth, back and forth, but they did not reach for their blades, nor did they move to support her.

"Your majesty," Minister Bicci said, "look at the upside, we won't bother you with decisions anymore, you can sit there and get drunk and eat all day every day until you die of old age if that is what you want. Nothing about your life even has to change."

She hung her head, "Do whatever you want... I'm... going to my quarters." She stood and snatched a bottle of wine off the table as she half walked, half staggered away, as she got to the door she looked back at the room and shrieked, "To the chasm with you, treasonous bastards!"

She stepped, or rather, lurched, through the door and slammed it behind her.

"She took that better than I thought she would." Minister Bicci said somewhat sardonically.

"She did?" Ainz asked. "What did you think she was going to do?" He asked.

"I thought when you approached, she would try to attack you." He said bluntly.

Ainz threw back his head and laughed. "Precious few try to do that," he said.

"If... if she had, you weren't going to kill her, were you?" Treiaa said hesitantly.

Ainz shook his head, "No, this once, I would have shown mercy for such an offensive action, as she is the last of your long line of rulers, it would be a poor beginning for our relationship to cut that thread, even if it were fully justified. It would be a mark that would never be forgotten. However, when she provides an heir to the throne, I strongly advise personally attending to the heir's education so that they know how to behave properly."

"Ah... yes, Your Majesty." The high priest said uncomfortably.

"Now... I suppose you wish me to see to the rebels?" He asked rhetorically.

The Outrider commander had a grim expression on his face, "Please do, sire. But after they're gone... well... how long before we receive undead labor to replace them?" He asked pointedly.

"Days." Ainz said casually, "I will send a small number first so you can properly gauge your needs, but as you've measured out your labor costs we will hone in on what you need and where."

Minister Bicci practically sang as he contemplated the changing labor structure of the Understone Empire. Most of the ministers present had similar expressions. "You'll want to get your people used to the undead as well I assume, it takes a few days for people to get accustomed to neither fleeing in terror nor attacking and destroying undead workers." He said with a hint of mirth in his voice.

"Yes... I... I suppose it would." Minister Bicci said, "But it is as you say, we are a pragmatic people, we will adapt quickly. If we receive one hundred per major city fifty for every minor city, twenty-five for every town, and five for every village, we should be able to provide sufficient exposure and put most of our people at ease. The mountain has made us a hardy folk, and we do not frighten easily."

'Did he even notice the joke?' Ainz wondered privately, 'The new world is strange, none of them appreciate my sense of humor.'

He shook the thought off, "That can be done." He said, "Inform me when you are ready to receive delivery."

"We will, Your Highness." The trio replied in unison.

"Now... to see to the rebellion, what is the last known location of the bulk of the slaves?" He asked.

"Mossyrock fell recently." A guard said, "Scouts have not reported any large scale departures except for one to Cliffside. Our Queen was on her twentieth cup of wine when we got word that Pit City was rising up."

The dark dwarves hung their heads.

"How many of your people have died in this war so far?" Ainz asked.

"Just... many, highness, it hasn't been going long, but where one begins, it sparks another. So many of our people... and we brought the war into our own house." Priest Treiaa said reluctantly.

"I see." Ainz said. "Then I had best not waste time."

When the gate opened in front of him, he paused only long enough to say, "Tuare, Yuri Alpha, Gondo, remain behind, this will not take long." They bowed obediently, and then he left them behind without a backwards look.

He found himself standing on a carved out roadway under a glowing blue ceiling, that quickly became much like a sky when the ceiling shot up. Mossyrock was... clearly named quite literally. It was also not undefended. Goblins patrolled a long fence line and ogres secured a narrow gate, when they saw the undead monarch, they froze in disbelief, but only for a moment before they shouted for help, that it was an undead attack.

Ainz raised his hands to call for a halt and shouted, "Hold, I have not come to attack, I have come to speak with your commander, bring him out!"

That gave pause, his voice was not the raspyness of the undead, but rather bore the noble intonation of kingship.

Too, his obviously expensive robes spoke of incalculable wealth to the poverty bound rebel slaves.

It was all such a strange dichotomy that it gave the rebel guards pause. "Please wait there, don't move, we will go and fetch him!" A pair of goblins said with equal parts urgency and terror in their voices before they sprinted away from the barrier as fast as they could.

"I will wait, but do not keep me. I will not wait for long before I go retrieve him myself." Ainz said, and unleashed the first level of his aura of despair, bringing out wails of terror from those within its reach... which... was everyone along the fence and at the gate.

He did not have to wait long, soon he saw the enormous orc approaching the gate.

"You! Undead! I am Iontariil, commander of the host, what do you want from us?!" He shouted.

"To bring you news, and to bring you options." Ainz shouted back, "Approach, bring guards if you wish, I guarantee your safety, I swear it in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

There was a long moment of silence as he saw the massive orc confer with his comrades. Iontariil finally leaned away from them and faced the Sorcerer King.

"Very well, I am bringing two guards only, please keep your hands where they can be seen!" He shouted, and Ainz responded by holding his empty hands out and at his sides.

The orc approached, two ogres followed a pace behind him, and he stopped five feet away from the Sorcerer King. His arms were folded defensively in front of his body and he held a sword and a hammer in his clenched fists.

"What do you want to say, undead?" He asked gruffly.

"The first is to inform you of your official freedom. The Dark Dwarves are allowing you all to leave." He said.

Jaws dropped.

"What's that you say?" He asked in surprise.

"Just what I said. The Understone Empire has submitted itself to me as a vassal. Slavery is outlawed in all of my states and provinces, no vassal and no province allow for either the trade in slaves or for the ownership of any intelligent being by any other intelligent being.

"You are made free by dint of my treaty of vassalization with the provisional government of the Understone Empire. Their Queen has been deprived of her power, and they have appealed to me to solve the problem of your insurrection." Ainz said casually.

The ogres looked at one another, they might not have been the smartest beings, but they got the gist of what he meant.

"Just like that?" Iontariil said in disbelief.

"Just like that." Ainz said flatly. "I can take every slave out of here right now without any problem whatsoever."

"Then what?" Iontariil asked.

"Then go where you want." Ainz said simply, "That is what 'freedom' means isn't it?"

"Yes... but there are tens of thousands of us, when we leave here, what will we do for food, work, shelter? We will either die on the road or have to turn bandit to survive, and we both know how well that tends to work out for bandits, don't we?" Iontariil replied bluntly.

"That is where my next piece of information comes from," Ainz said, "recall I said I was going to present you with 'options'?" He asked.

"Yes..." Iontariil said.

"The options are these." Ainz said and held up his hand. "One, you simply 'leave' and make your way back to your homes." He closed one finger. "Two, you allow me to see to your resettlement. I am the ruler of a mighty kingdom, however I have many lands that are under populated, from the Abelion Hills which was depopulated heavily during Jaldabaoth's reign of terror, to the east of the Draconic Kingdom." He lowered another finger. "Three... I am in the midst of a war, and I am always willing to take those willing to fight, into my ranks to serve my cause." He lowered another finger. "Fourth, you can ask to remain here as paid laborers, but they will likely refuse under the circumstances, and you will be expelled anyway." He said and lowered another finger, "Finally fifth... you may refuse my offer, refuse to go free, insist on fighting for revenge, and then by virtue of my treaty with my new vassal state, I would be forced to kill you all instead of free you, and I do not wish to do that." He said, lowering his final finger, turning his hand into a very dangerous looking skeletal fist, and incidentally making a very blunt point about what he was willing to do, even if he did not relish the task.

"What choice will you make?" He asked.

"If we fight, do we fight as slaves?" Iontariil asked.

"As I said, slavery is prohibited, all who fight are paid soldiers, and I provide the equipment necessary out of my own pocket." Ainz said firmly.

Iontariil looked thoughtful. "I would have to see the land you speak of to know this is no trick, can you show it to me?" He asked.

"Easily." Ainz said sincerely. It took mere minutes of time through a gate Ainz opened for him before he was satisfied that the land was real, though in those minutes the ogres looked very uncomfortable being left alone with the Sorcerer King.

The orc looked doubtful, his arms fell at his side and he tapped his massive green thigh with the flat of his blade as he thought through this turn of events.

"I am their commander, not their master, what if we permit my forces to decide for themselves? Will you send some to safety and allow others to enlist as paid soldiers, for example?" The large orc asked hesitantly.

"That is also acceptable." Ainz replied, "Go, gather your army, inform them of what I have told you, and have them make their choices, if anyone wishes to see some of the available lands, it is open for viewing, but if it matters for their choice, tell them that the one who brings these options to them is the one who killed Jaldabaoth." Ainz added.

Iontariil's eyes went wide and white. "I-I will." He said as he looked up at the ogres behind him, who instinctively took a step backwards.

The massive orc went back, and a few minutes later Ainz could hear the shouting from inside Mossyrock. Then he heard Iontariil shouting back, he could hear Jaldabaoth's name being shouted in disbelief, some at least, had been his victims at one point in the past at least.

A few minutes later, Iontariil approached again. "Come, Your Majesty." He said, "They are ready for you."

He led the Sorcerer King to a platform and climbed to the top of it, the undead monarch followed a foot behind him.

When they were at the top, he whispered, "Majesty, repeat to them what you have told me." Iontariil's voice was a low, rough whisper, and Ainz gave an almost imperceptible nod.

After he was done explaining, cheers struck the sky of moss and stone, freedom, victory, and above all, safety, was theirs at last.

"What will you do?" Someone shouted from the crowd up to Iontariil. "Will you stay with us if we go to fight?! Or rule us if we settle a city?!" The questions of his own plans seemed designed to decide what shape theirs would take.

"Me?" He asked, "I will live my life beneath the true sky again, I have been too long underground, and too long among great crowds. I will remain with the Sorcerer King to speak to the rest of our comrades before any more die, so that they know his offer is true, then I will ask for a good bow and arrows, a good sword, a pack suitable for traveling, and to be dropped off somewhere far from here. I never wanted to rule, I never wanted to lead! I wanted to live free once more, and I wanted that for everyone! We have that now, that is enough for me. My thoughts will always be with you, but now is the time to make your own choices. I want to go out into the world while I am still able to do so under my own power, not grow old on a throne or deciding the fate of my comrades! If you wish to follow me still, then follow my memory and bow to none unworthy, bend no knee to one who wields a whip! And when you still have strength enough to your body, walk out into the world to seek your final hour on your own terms!"

The mass of rebel slaves showed waves of sadness at the stated departure of their hero, their leader, their chain breaker, but even in the short time of their rebellion, they had learned enough of him that there was little shock in what he said.

"The time has come to choose." Ainz said, "I have offered to show you the new lands I have available for you to settle, or to send you to the Abelion Hills, I assume you are familiar with the latter. If that is your desired home..." He said and pointed to an empty space in the great open area where they had formed ranks. "Go through there."

Several thousand began to fall out of their positions, shaking hands briefly with comrades who had chosen to remain for another option, they walked to the hole in reality, and began to disappear.

"Those of you who wish an entirely new land..." He pointed to another open space, and a moment later, another gate opened. "When you reach the other side, you will find a city, be not alarmed, all new migrants arrive there, they will assign you to new homes and lands in the region, food and drink will be provided until then." He said patiently.

Thousands more fell out, and walked to that hole in reality, again pausing to shake hands and bid farewell to those who chose yet another option.

"Those of you who wish to fight in my army as mercenaries," he said, "You will be dispatched to a city called Prart. You will appear outside the walls, remain in a military formation and do not move until you are told to, I will provide a letter of introduction to Neia Baraja, who commands there. She will put you to your tasks, and when you inform her that you are liberated slaves, I assure you, she will accept you whole heartedly." He said, and after briefly taking out a piece of paper, he scrawled out a short letter, and held it down from the platform. A goblin approached and jumped up to take it, Ainz let it slip from his fingers easily, and the goblin hurried back to his position.

When that gate opened, the remainder marched through, leaving the entire city empty save for Ainz and Iontariil.

"Next location?" The orc asked.

"Next location." Ainz confirmed.

The next twenty hours were spent with the massive orc going from captured town to captured town, camp to camp, village to village, leaving Ainz grateful that the Yggdrassil gate spell didn't include any kind of debuff penalty for use, until at last every single slave in the Understone Empire was entirely evacuated, first from those areas where victory had gone to the rebels...

But then it came to the areas where rebellion had been completely suppressed.

Ainz's arrival, with an orc no less, sent shockwaves of horror among the dark dwarves of those zones still actively controlled by the traditional authorities. More than once Ainz had to release an aura of fear to silence his opponents and force them to listen.

He held out copies of the treaty to those in command, most of whom did not believe him at first, and it was only after he returned to Seoth'Kardia and brought back Minister Bicci and the head of the Outrider corps that they consented to allow their slaves to depart, promises were made to hold an official gathering to explain both the most recent events, and those coming close on the horizon that were about to change their world forever.

The slaves, unsurprisingly, went right along with everything, not least because Iontariil's name and face were known and his reputation was sufficient that, combined with the strange undead king, and the very clear evidence that many strange and unexpected events had occurred while they had languished in their chains, so credibility was not an issue. Expressions of disbelief at the sudden liberation quickly gave way to celebration as hope was rekindled in the breasts of thousands, and it birthed a conflagration of cheers among the freed slaves, as much as it bred consternation among the dwarves who could scarcely accept what was happening before their eyes as city by city, slaves walked through holes in reality and vanished forever from the under the mountain.

Finally it was just Iontariil himself, the last slave in the Understone Empire.

"You're the only one left." Ainz said.

"I am." Iontariil said, the gate opened, and he stepped through it, and out into immortal legend to be written of in Dark Dwarf histories, and spoken of with awe and reverence by the former slaves of the Understone Empire and their descendants, for countless generations.

**AN: Well, last chapter is up next, hope it you enjoyed the ride. :)**


	11. Epilogue

-Epilogue-

When the orc was gone, Ainz looked at Minister Bicci and his comrade of the Outriders.

"Things will never be the same for you, any of you, but I hope you will think it's better than it was, in time." Ainz said sincerely.

"I'm optimistic. Pragmatists like us tend to adapt well when we have to, even if we don't really want to." Bicci said casually.

"Did Gondo talk to you about the Magicine technology exchange yet?" Ainz asked.

"He did, though he waited until 'after' we'd signed the vassalage document." Bicci rolled his eyes at that and stroked his beard, "I suppose we're obligated to start letting go of some things now, but better that and... however much land it takes for that road to be built, than to let go of our lives." He said with a practical shrug.

"Granted." Ainz said, "And by the way, I'll limit my construction area to the area between Mossyrock and Forgeheart, there still might be some damage as a result, but reoccupation should be relatively easy, especially with undead labor to help. And anyone who loses a home by some mischance, I will compensate with relocation as promised, or suitable monetary awards equivalent to several times the cost of the residence and/or property therein. It is only just." Ainz said magnanimously.

"Will you forgive me for something impertinent, sire?" Minister Bicci asked hesitantly.

"Please, do continue." Ainz said.

"You show such a profoundly adept understanding of negotiation and compensatory offers, it's almost like you're less of an undead monarch and more of a savvy business dwarf, I say this in the highest of praise of course, it really is uncanny how persuasive you were with everyone." Bicci said, his voice filled with a kind of reverential awe.

Ainz inclined his head, "Then I shall take it as the praise it is intended to be. Mortals can be... complex, but with the pragmatic, one need only understand their needs and goals, then meet them. It is... good business, to do things that way." He said. "Oh, one more piece of advice before I go."

"Yes, sire?" Bicci asked.

"There is but one rule for the industrialist: Make the best goods possible, at the lowest price possible, while paying the highest wages possible. Do this, and you will thrive, fail to do this, and the necessities of the market will see you to ruin. Think on this, for it is a piece of ancient wisdom from long... long... long ago." He said cryptically.

"When time permits and things have settled, tell your Reeve he may visit E-Rantel and apply for a chance to study magic in my home. If I am pleased with his performance here after I leave, I may accept him." He added.

He then returned them all through the gate, back to Seoth'Kardia, where his companions were waiting for him.

They stood as soon as he appeared.

"Time for us to go." He said. He looked at the ministers who were already sitting around the long table hashing out the minutiae of their various positions in the new provisional government.

They went silent at his appearance, but he did not linger. "Govern well, I would not see a return to ineptitude for any of my vassals, your people are as mine, and I will watch out for them, even if you should fail." He said, letting his gaze fall on those who sat in silence.

The gate opened again, and he walked out, and disappeared from view.

Ainz returned Gondo to his kingdom, leaving him many stories to tell that got him a great many free drinks, bought by those who wished to hear more of the story of the Understone Empire in the south, and... got him a fair amount of attention from the opposite sex as he gained an increased reputation as a particularly successful and adventurous dwarf, something he enjoyed quite a bit, whenever his duties allowed him to indulge himself in idle pleasures, which was... less often than even an industrious dwarf would wish, but nonetheless it was always welcome when the chance came.

The Dwarves of the Understone Empire set themselves to the task of reforming their government with a great efficiency and zeal, real excitement was set in the streets as the details of the new government were set out at large, copies of the treaty at first brought great alarm, but as the stories spread about the overwhelming power of the Overlord of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the invincible undead monarch, people either fell to calm or fell to doubt, some unable to accept the reality as it closed in around the world they knew.

The first undead laborers showed up within three days, and the Sorcerer King, at Gondo's suggestion, sent them bearing their maximum carry weight in alcohol as a potent gift of good will. It was sent in such quantity that not only did it emphasize the strength of the undead laborers, but it spawned the first holiday the Understone Empire ever held, proposed by High Priest Treiaa.

An impromptu act by a Dark Dwarf that had once heard a drinking song in Entown, lead to the Understone Empire coining its own music, and before long drinking songs could be heard in every tavern from one end of the city to the other.

The story about what happened there, spread faster than the use of the undead labor, and as more showed up with similar gifts in their locations, a musical tradition began to be born on the backs of the beer bearing skeletons.

The rumors about Gargantua were dismissed up until the day of his arrival, heralded by a massive quaking when it punched at the mountain. Things shook for miles around.

"Thud... thud... crunch..." Rock broke apart like ice being shattered by a smith's hammer, the noise and rumbling was like the thunder of a storm under the stone sky. Dwarves everywhere within hearing... or feeling, clutched themselves in terror and awe. Whether they had believed or not before, all were united as believers in that hour, many emerged from tunnels to watch as not inch by inch, but foot by foot, years of labor was conducted in mere hours by the massive mountain like golem.

The inexorable steps forward seemed as unstoppable as ocean tides, river floods, or the very rising and setting of the sun itself. Within a day it had broken its way between Mossyrock and Forgeheart, within two it was half way past, punching its way through or tearing away rock to create an open roadway and splitting open the stone sky, casting clear daylight down into the mountain for the first time in eons, since the stone rose from the ground below. Inch by inch the sun revealed itself to the long-concealed stone, and dwarves who had never seen any blue sky, but one made by glowing moss, marveled at the clarity of the outside world.

Many Dark Dwarf hearts were lit with the fires of the adventure as the rays of sunshine kissed cold stone and concealed faces, stealing away their collective innocence with its caress.

The Sorcerer King's estimate was wrong as it turned out. It did not happen that it punched its way through thirty miles of mountain in a week.

It took six days.

If rebellion had ever stirred in any breast, the shaking of the ground beneath Gargantua's every step, snuffed it out before it could be given life by breath.

The new provisional government was quick to take advantage of this, and cleared the path of all materials, finding vast quantities of useful ore on the now sky lit road that split the mountain range in two. Opportunistic dwarves took out loans and established inns and centers of recreation, realizing the traffic from the South from the soon to be subordinate nation of Re-Estize, could greatly enrich anyone quick of thought or open minded enough to take advantage of it all.

Queen Shubri never quite recovered from the shame of losing her authority, even though she had never used it for much, it still stung to be the one to lose what her ancestors had held onto for so very long.

She spent most of her time locked up in her room, though she did eventually produce several potential heirs, she had been so deeply humbled that she even lost confidence in her ability to rear her own children, and those duties tended to fall to either ministers or attendants.

She remained a broken shell of a monarch until her passing, which was not at an old age. Her heirs, who many remarked looked uncommonly like... well, to put it bluntly, several different ministers... proved to be far better at their role than their mother. They gained broad educations traveling from royal house to royal house, and with while only one among them became heir apparent, the others sought positions in the ministry, ensuring the royal family remained influential in the affairs of state, even if no one member held the totality of authority ever again.

When Ainz returned to Nazarick after the trip was at its end, he addressed Yuri Alpha first.

"Tell me, how do you rate Tuare's performance during this little trip?" He asked as he sat at his desk.

She thought carefully for a moment. "She showed attention to detail and she took the initiative to support your majesty's efforts. I would rate her performance very positively, using the supreme one's scale, nine out of ten."

Tuare sighed with relief at Yuri's evaluation.

"I agree. I'm very pleased. Tuare, as a reward for your good service and excellent performance, I would like to offer you and Sebas a brief vacation. Take a few days at the location of your choice and enjoy each other's company." Ainz said generously.

Tuare blushed, "It pleases me to serve you, sire." She said with... a little more confidence than she usually had.

"I... we will select somewhere and have that reported to you tonight." She said softly.

"That will be fine, Yuri, if there is some reward you would like... and don't say anything about how serving me is its own reward..." He said with a sigh, cutting off the inevitable.

"If it pleases your majesty, I would like to go shopping in E-Rantel to get a few things for my quarters." She said after a moment's thought.

Ainz scrawled out a brief note. "Have this sum drawn for your use, and you may depart immediately.

"If there is nothing else, you are dismissed, but... send Demiurge to me when you're done." He said.

"Of course, my lord." She said, and they bowed and left together.

A few minutes later, Demiurge entered the office with Iontariil standing beside him.

"You may drop the disguise 'Iontariil', it is no longer necessary." Ainz said, wishing he could properly roll his eyes.

The orcish shape faded away, and the doppleganger bowed deeply.

"That worked very well, Demiurge, I'm pleased with the work of my subordinates." Ainz said contentedly.

"You were quite right, my lord, it is very easy to loot a burning house." Demiurge said with a sadistic grin.

"Mein vater, it is mein pleasure to serve." Pandora's Actor said enthusiastically.

"Didn't I tell you about German?" Ainz said with a sigh.

Before he could apologize, Ainz waved it away, "Never mind. It doesn't matter. The important thing is that the Understone Empire is ours, and with barely any effort." Ainz said. "All it cost was a few days and some dead slave trading scum, and in a generation or two they'll revile the practice and remember it as the thing that almost destroyed them." His statement concluded with a very dark undertone, before he continued with one that was much more positive.

"As we're the ones who saved them, they should be as loyal as any pragmatists are capable of being, and when we expand our education system, we can ensure their loyalty is to Nazarick first. True it may take a few generations, but what is that to an immortal?" He asked rhetorically.

"Are Aura and Mare back yet, by the way?" Ainz asked.

"Not yet, my lord. Something about a ceremony, but they promised they would return this evening." Demiurge replied.

"Very good, I am pleased." Ainz said, "The Slane Theocracy will never know what hit them... not when over two hundred thousand Re-Estize soldiers come in to reinforce Leinas and Aureole Omega. They will pay a steep price for their hubris."

"Yes, my lord, they will. Though highest cost will be in coin." Demiurge said archly.

"Oh, why is that?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Everyone in the Slane Theocracy will need new pants on the same day." Demiurge replied with a deadpan expression.

Ainz, Pandora's Actor, and Demiurge then filled the private office with laughter, laughter that did not fully stop, for quite some time.

-End-

**AN: Thanks for reading to the end, hope you enjoyed the story, if you did and want to show your appreciation, you can donate to bdgiving dot org, (our current big project is to cover education costs for a child in Uganda) support the p a treon dot com slash god rising. Or just join the discord for early access. **


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